Are NFTs Art or Altcoin?

If you follow the crypto Twitter-sphere you may have come across a recent drama that started with a comment by a well-known analyst and commentator known as Cobie. Famous for his upfront understanding of all things crypto, on his UpOnly podcast he has interviewed the likes of Vitalik Buterin, Justin Sun and Michael Saylor.

Cobie set off ongoing social media back and forth when he stated that NFTs “are altcoins with pictures.” Notably, one of the most influential proponents in favor of NFTs and metaverse development, who goes by the pseudonym Punk6529, agreed with Cobie, remarking in response that the altcoin/picture combination “is a feature, not a bug.”

Are NFTs Really Altcoins with Pictures?

NFTs, like altcoins, are crypto tokens. The difference with an NFT is that it is a unique token (non-fungible), rather than an interchangeable token (fungible
Fungible

Fungibility is a term that describes how interchangeable a certain asset is with other assets of the same kind.If an asset is fungible, one unit of that asset is interchangeable with another unit of that asset. Of note, fungibility differs from liquidity. A good is said to be liquid if it can be easily exchanged for money or another good. However, a good is fungible if one unit of the good is substantially equivalent to another unit of the same good of the same quality at the same time and place.By this analog, money is considered to be fungible. For example, one $20 banknote is interchangeable with any other authentic banknote like it.It is also interchangeable with two $10 banknotes, or twenty $1 banknotes, or any other combination of banknotes and coins adding up to $20. Fungible Versus LiquidSimilarly, different issues of a government bond are also fungible, which may have been issued at different times. This is only if these issues carry precisely the same rights and any of them is equally acceptable in settlement of a trade.Fungibility does not imply liquidity, and vice versa. Certain commodities such as diamonds for example can be readily bought and sold. However, while the trade is liquid, individual diamonds are unique and not interchangeable. Cryptocurrencies are often considered to be fungible assets, as one coin is equivalent to another. However, a notable exception occurred…