Prospecting non-fungible tokens in the digital economy: Stakeholders and ecosystem, risk and opportunity

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a highly nascent and emerging phenom-enon revolutionizing how digital assets are traded. NFTs embody immutable rights to unique digital assets such as digital art and collectibles and are represented as digital tokens that can be traded across marketplaces utilizing blockchain technol-ogies. NFTs engender new ways to organize, consume, move, program, and store digital information and have experienced a rapid rise in various adaptations across art, sports, broadcasting, content creation, and tech-crypto businesses. In this article, we define NFTs and look at how they fit with blockchain and cryptocurren-cies, how they are used by various industries, and the opportunities and risks they present. Our key contribution is a conceptual map of an initial NFT ecosystem. In doing so, we provide relational mapping between and among key stakeholders: con-tent creators, core and related technical and business intermediaries, consumers, investors, and speculators. We also highlight implications for managers and tie them to conceptual exploration and exploitation frameworks.(c) 2021 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are an emerging phenomenon revolutionizing the trading of digital assets. They represent immutable rights to unique digital assets such as art and collectibles, and are traded using blockchain technology. NFTs have transformed the way digital information is organized, consumed, and stored, and have seen rapid adoption in various industries. This article provides a conceptual map of the NFT ecosystem, highlighting the stakeholders involved and their implications.