Cryptocurrency’s Newest Frontier

<p>It started with a picture posted on the internet, and ended in an extravagant cryptocurrency bidding war. NFTs, or “nonfungible tokens,” have recently taken the art world by storm. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/sabrina-tavernise">Sabrina Tavernise</a>, a national correspondent for The Times, speaks with the Times columnist Kevin Roose about digital currency’s newest frontier, his unexpected role in it and why it matters.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/kevin-roose">Kevin Roose</a>, a technology columnist for The Times who examines the intersection of technology, business, and culture.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>NFT mania has reached new highs in recent months, with a digital artwork by an artist known as Beeple <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/arts/design/nft-auction-christies-beeple.html?smid=pc-thedaily">selling for $69.3 million</a>. A trading card featuring the quarterback Tom Brady <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/13/technology/crypto-art-NFTs-trading-cards-investment-manias.html?smid=pc-thedaily">sold for $1.3 million</a> and an NFT of the first tweet from Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter, went for $2.9 million.</li><li>What are these nonfungible tokens and why do people pay so much for them?<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/arts/design/what-is-an-nft.html?smid=pc-thedaily"> Here’s a primer</a>.</li><li>A picture of Kevin Roose’s column “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/technology/nft-column-blockchain.html?smid=pc-thedaily">Buy This Column on the Blockchain!</a>” was put up for auction and sold for about $725,000. He also wrote about the surreal <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/technology