The NFT

“You bought an NFT of a pixelated cat?”

Brian blinked and furrowed his brow in disbelief.

“Yep.” said Keith as he put his phone away and bent down to the water cooler to refill his cup.

“So you believe in them, then.” Brian asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Believe in what?”

“That NFTs are a safe investment. That they maintain their price over time. That they are not just a hoax. Can’t anyone just download the file?”

“Oh. That.” shrugged Keith as he gulped down on his water and tossed the cup away.

”Yeah, no, it really doesn’t matter to me. That’s not what it’s about.” continued Keith.

Brian squinted a little and scratched the back of his head.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Keith pulled out his phone again, brought up a trading app and held the screen up to Brian’s face.

“Look.” said Keith, shaking the phone slightly.

“It’s a stock portfolio. Nicely balanced too, but…”

Brian hesitated.

“When I want to invest, that’s what I do.”

“So…”

Keith put his phone away and took a deep breath.

“Okay... You know the painting ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch?”

“The one with the hands held up to the face and the wide open mouth, right?”

“Right,” nodded Keith, “so, did you know he made four or eight different versions of that piece, depending on how you count, of which two are prints?”

“No, I did not, but where are you going with this? And how can a print be an original?” objected Brian and scratched his head again.

“He made lithographs. They were just copies, but he signed them.” explained Brian, tracing out the shape of a rectangle with his fingers.

“Who would pay to have an artist personally sign a…”

Keith smiled.

“If I liked the… No, yeah, okay, maybe I would.”