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NFTs died a slow, painful death in 2023 as most are now worthless

Non-fungible tokens promised to revolutionise the concept of ownership using the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, but the market seems to have all but collapsed

By Chris Stokel-Walker

22 December 2023

Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs aren’t worth what they once were

mundissima/Alamy

The world went ape for digital drawings of primates in 2022. In 2023, we got bored.

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, were touted as a revolutionary technology that would upend the concept of ownership – and, more broadly, the global economy. These digital identifiers of ownership are stored on the blockchain, the same technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but for most people the phrase calls to mind strange images sold at high prices.

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