In essence, an NFT (non fungible token) is a digital certificate of ownership, almost always bought and sold using cryptocurrency, to which any digital-file- a JPEGimage file, a video, a song- can be attatched.  That Paris Hilton is able to display iconic crypto in her home, dispite having sold it, is part of the NFT's appeal, and the challenge it poses to the established business model for trading and accessing art.  With a simple google search, anybody can find and download the file associated with an NFT for nothing, and store it on their phone or computer, but only the owner has the right to sell it.  Each NFT is unique, and all transactions are logged on the blockchain, a type of database invented in 2008 for the purpose of recording the movement of cryptocurrency.  Unlike the commercial gallery business model, NFT's are designed to cut out the need for art dealers, enabling artists to trade directly online, typically via specialist auction sites.  Crucially, in contrast to the contemporary art world, there is no "vetting" of collectors-a practice intended to stop the most speculative buyers flipping artworks by quickly reselling them at a profit.  Anybody can buy an NFT, and prices, so often a thing of mystery in the high-end commercial galleries, are listed as a matter of public record.  Every time an NFT is resold, its creator also makes a profit- aninbuilt royalty system missing from the physical art world, where artists feel as if they have been shafted when their work is resold on the secondary market.           A model for trading and sharing art, built on the principles of financial transparency, royalties, and easy access for all may sound egalitarian.  The reality has been rather different.  As soon as it became apparent that almost anything digital could be labelled as art and sold, the circus rolled into town.  Crypto art's reputation has also taken a knock because of its awful environmental track record.  (The annual energy consumption of ethereum is estimated to equal that of Iceland.)  Dispite this, advocates still believe NFT's can mount a challenge to the monopoly on trading art held by commercial galleries, and even create a future where physical artworks are replaced by their digital counterparts.  As Paris Hilton puts it:  "There are paintings out there that are 100M or more, but if you think about it, it's really just canvas with paint."  Nifty Gateway provides a platform for inspirational entrepreneurs and hobbyists, who practice their craft on computers rather than knotting macrame plant hangers.  "The technology is designed against the existing art world," says Noah Davis, a specialist at Christie's New York.  "It's an art form that doesn't need a gallery."