Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is at the forefront of the wave of interest in blockchain technology, smart contracts and non-fungible NFTs or tokens.
It is “like the first days of all new technology, emotion sometimes creates some unique situations,” Cuban told CNBC Make It.
Recently, NFT-based art in particular has been sold for a few times for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but according to Cuban, “as more participants enter the [NFT] market, it will become more efficient and prices will calm down ”, he says.
NFTs are unique cryptocurrency tokens used to represent assets, such as digital artwork, music or movies. NFTs can be bought and sold, as physical assets, but as they run on blockchain, a decentralized digital ledger that documents transactions, ownership and validity of the asset they represent can be tracked.
One of the great advantages is that they allow creators to be paid as their content is distributed on the Internet.
For example, if an artist puts his NFT-based artwork for sale, a buyer can buy a unique token that represents the asset and can then prove the authenticity and ownership of digital art through the blockchain.
According to Cuban, this is where the value lies. “The technology is real,” he says. “The impact is real and permanent.”
Cuban predicts that NFTs will hurt the art, music and film industries.
“[B]lockchain and smart contracts and markets are here to stay, “he says.
Recently, “excitement” around the NFT market has led to art auctions – for example, an NFT-based music video created by artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, sold for $ 6.6 million last week . originally being purchased for about $ 67,000, while a cryptographic version of the 2011 Nyan Cat meme was auctioned off and sold for about $ 590,000.
In sports, NBA Top Shot, an NFT platform that facilitates the purchase and sale of short clips from popular players, has recorded more than $ 280 million in sales to date, according to the CryptoSlam website.
The music industry is also diving into the market, with bands like Kings of Leon announcing it will release a new album as an NFT for a $ 50 token – the offer will be open for two weeks from Friday at noon ET, and at the end, nothing more will be done.
As for Cuban, he has already profited from NFTs through the auction of digital goods online, including a video clip Mavs Suns Game Day Experience. He also has NFT-based digital assets, including a “Maxi Kleber dunk Moment” card that he considers collectible and as valuable as a physical sports card. Cuban said he would not sell, but other Maxi Kleber digital sets were sold for between $ 35 and up to $ 800 on the NBA Top Shot website, which Cuban describes as a massive innovation.
Disclosure: CNBC has the exclusive cable rights outside the network for “Shark Tank”.
Output check: The best credit cards for building credit from 2021
Don’t miss out: