Why Is Everyone Talking About ‘NFTs?’

Your guide to the cryptocurrency collectibles that are taking the digital art and music world by storm. If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser.       Everything You Need to Know About NFTs—the Crypto Art Selling For Millions   Here's a riddle: What features a naked former president lying prostrate in the grass, cannot be touched or held in your hands, is free to download for anyone with an internet connection, and costs millions of dollars? Answer: the digital artist Beeple's NFT piece, "CROSSROAD," which recently sold for $6.6 million, making history as the most expensive digital art sale ever made. If this information leaves your brain in total shambles, you're not alone. The burgeoning market for NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, is turning the art, music, and finance worlds upside down. This week, Grimes sold almost $6 million of her digital art—renderings of tattooed, spear-wielding cherubs floating in purple-hued post-apocalyptic ruins—as NFTs on Nifty Gateway, the "premier marketplace" for NFTs. Today, Kings of Leon became the first band to offer an album as both a streamable collection of songs and an NFT. Christie's just auctioned their first digital-only work of art, a mosaic of 5,000 pieces called "EVERYDAYS" by Beeple (Mike Winkelmann). It sold Thursday for $69 Million. In the sports world, game highlights can be bought and sold as NFTs, though anyone can watch these for free. Got a spare $213,000? You can buy an NFT of this specific LeBron dunk (from a game they lost, no less). NFTs have rapidly become the next big thing in cryptocurrency's crossover out of elusive anonymous e-wallet dealings and into the more public cultural web sphere. If you've seen any of this news and wondered, okay so what even is an NFT?, here is a brief guide to the emerging form of digital collectibles. Read More           Everlane's New Tracksuits Are a Welcome Invitation to Mix Up Your Off-Duty Style   Everlane has introduced a small capsule collection of sleek, streamlined trackpants, shorts, and windbreakers—think of them as the fleece-free cousins of the WFH staples we've been living in for the past year—it feels like a grand assertion of new allegiances would provide a nice backdrop for talking about how easy it is to switch from a classic crewneck to a stand-collar, zip-up jacket. Or how reaching for a pair of cinched-hem, slim-but-not-skinny trackpants is always a good move, but an even better one when things are warming up outside. We love a manufactured schism, right? "Friendship with ended with sweatpants. Now trackpants are my best friend." Read More           Grenson's Bold, Beefed-Up Oxfords Are the Answer to Boring Footwear Fatigue   It's no surprise that, in fashion terms, we've all gone a bit soft in our dress habits during the last 12 months. Now, however, as the first green shoots of spring and, along with it, the first reliable intimations of a new (sort-of) normality return our daily lives, we're already (cough) rebooting our wardrobes into going-out mode. And we're doing it from the ground up. Exhibit-A, for your inspiration, is UK shoemaker Grenson's Gresham Triple Welt black oxford, and it's a belter. Bypassing sneakers and transitioning all the way from socks to actual shoes may sound like a giant leap for mankind at this point, but it behooves us to explore the possibilities of more structured clothing again, in order to properly distance ourselves from our slovenly ways. Here's Esquire Creative Director Nick Sullivan on why they're the perfect shoes to break you out of your footwear funk. Read More           The 30 Best Mother's Day Gifts You Can Order From Amazon   Being the best son you can be means getting mom a really thoughtful gift for Mother's Day that shows her just how much you appreciate her. Nowhere in the contract does it stipulate you can't shop for said gift from the comfort of your couch, with the option of free shipping with a few days' turnaround (in case you're cutting it close). So for you, the best—and most efficient—son in the world, we've found 30 Mother's Day gift ideas on Amazon that are all pretty damn good. Whether she like homey comforts, style upgrades, or the newest tech, you'll find her present here. Read More           Phoebe Bridgers Doesn't Have Time For 'Goat Beard Assholes'   Phoebe Bridgers' career is far from an overnight success—even if she did sleep through the announcement of her four nominations for Best Alternative Music Album, Best New Artist, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance in this year's Grammys. And yet, the past year has certainly been a growth spurt. Just a few of her "notches on the doorframe" have included her sophomore album Punisher being released to critical acclaim, founding her own record label, a guitar smash heard 'round the world on SNL, and lending her voice to ongoing conversations in politics and the music industry. As she sits in her yet-to-be-decorated home, awaiting the results of the Grammys, as well as the greenlight to begin touring again (whenever that may be), Bridgers doesn't seem to mind this state of suspension. After all, when you're sure of the path you're on, there's not much need to cut corners. "I'm not afraid of hard work," she sings at the close of "Garden Song," "I get everything I want." Emma Carey spoke with Bridgers about the upcoming Grammys, her SNL smashed guitar moment, and why she's got no time for the haters. Read More           How Did This Guy Just Make $70 Million Selling Pixels? Inside 'Beeple Mania'   Beeple is an artist. He makes digital art—pixels on screens depicting bizarre, hilarious, disturbing, and sometimes grotesque images. He smashes together pop culture, technology, and postapocalyptic terror into blistering commentaries on the way we live. A recent frame depicted Donald Trump wearing a leather mask and stripper's pasties, taking a whip to the coronavirus bug (title: "Trump Dominating Covid"). On the day Jeff Bezos announced he was kicking himself upstairs, Beeple imagined the Amazon founder as a massive, threatening octopus emerging from the ocean as military helicopters circled above ("Release the Bezos"). Beeple has 1.8 million Instagram followers. His work has been shown at two Super Bowl halftime shows and at least one Justin Bieber concert, but he has no gallery representation or foothold in the traditional art world. And yet, today, an auction of his art grossed $69 Million. How, though? Here, Mickey Rapkin dives into Beeple's world and unpacks it all. Read More         Read More on Esquire.com       Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2021 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019