Non-Fungible Token (NFTs) are taking over the art world by storm and a few Bhutanese are joining in on the craze. NFTs are digital works of art or other collectibles that are one-of-a-kind and traded online using digital currencies or cryptos. A Bhutanese artist recently launched his collection of Non-Fungible Token.
For Kushap Kafley, 29, who currently works as an engineer in Australia, the digital world always intrigued him. He tried his hand at creating NFTs in 2019 and today he has been able to create two NFTs of his own.
This image of a dragon is one of his artworks which he recently sold for 0.16 Ether, a popular cryptocurrency currently equivalent to around Nu 30,000.
He now has six NFTs on his collection. Kushap says he tried convincing a friend in Bhutan to join him in the NFT world but was unsuccessful due to the huge money one needs to invest first.
“I was trying to collaborate with an artist back in Bhutan. And I was like convincing him please put your art in NFT and I will help you. What he told me was he didn’t have the money because to get into NFT, you have to pay a lot of money, we have to pay Ethereum gas fee which is like 200 dollars plus there is like other associated as well,” said Kushap.
One doesn’t necessarily need to create digital art to join in. The NFTs, which can be in the form of pictures, videos or audio can simply be bought or sold online.
“I do not make physical arts myself. There are a lot of people who are more talented than I, who might have the potential to take Bhutanese arts to next level. I want to be that bridge,” added Kushap.
NFTs have gained popularity in recent years across the globe, with some NFT artwork selling for millions of dollars. NFTs are seen as assets that a person can own online and which can communicate social status.
“NFT helps to market your digital art or digital assets online. With the coming of the metaverse, digital assets are becoming increasingly very popular. So, in the metaverse, NFTs will play a very important role in the buying and selling of digital assets. When I say digital assets, it’s like a picture or a piece of digital art or 3D models of house, furniture or your clothing that you can use in a metaverse,” said Tshering Dorji (PhD), former CEO of Thimphu TechPark.
However, like cryptocurrencies, NFTs are largely unregulated. Many say NFT is an intellectual property of digital art. But the Department of Intellectual Property says NFTs relate to the trading of digital assets within the Blockchain system, which is an online record maintained by the network of computers. This limits its legality to the Blockchain world.
Samten Dolkar
