NFTs and the Enduring Allure of Digital Collectibles -

This is the first article of a series by Katten attorneys examining non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and various novel legal issues raised by NFTs, including in copyright law and beyond. When the artist Beeple sold an NFT of his digital artwork for an eye-popping $69 million at a Christie’s online auction in March 2021, only about 178,000 wallet addresses had bought or sold an NFT on an Ethereum marketplace. Today, that number stands at over three million. Although headlinegrabbing scandals and continued regulatory uncertainty over the treatment of digital assets in the intervening years have cast a cloud on cryptocurrency markets, major corporations and brands have spearheaded efforts to bring NFTs to the consuming public.