Crypto art

Crypto art (sometimes styled as CryptoArt or Cryptoart) is a kind of art that is associated with the blockchain technology and is gaining popularity.

Following the development of blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in the mid- to late-2010s, crypto art quickly gained traction, owing in large part to the unprecedented ability afforded by the underlying technology to allow purely digital artworks to be bought, sold, or collected by anyone in a decentralised fashion.

While there isn't a universally accepted meaning for the phrase, there are two widely accepted interpretations among crypto artists and their collectors at the moment. The first is in regards to crypto-themed artworks, or artworks with subject topics that are concerned with the culture, politics, economics, or philosophy around blockchain and cryptocurrency technology; the second is in regards to cryptocurrency-themed artworks. Digital artwork that is published directly onto a blockchain in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) is included in the second, and more widely accepted, definition. A non-fungible token (NFT) makes the ownership, transfer, and sale of an artwork possible in a cryptographically secure and verifiable manner.

Confusion, on the other hand, may often develop when trying to properly describe cryptography because of the grey regions and subtlety that make it impossible to do so. Examples include the use of blockchain technology to publicly register and validate preexisting physical artworks in order to distinguish them from forgeries and to verify their ownership via the use of physical trackers or labels. It is debatable whether or not such artworks might be regarded as cryptographic art.