- There was disagreement among the editors about the definitions.
- Five editors voted no to incorporating NFTs in art sales, while one voted yes.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been rejected as works of art by a group of Wikipedia editors. The subject has been put on hold until more credible information can be gathered. “The most expensive art sales by living artists” became the topic of an internet discussion towards the end of December last year. Since Wikipedia is a free, user-generated information website that enables anybody to edit, the number of editors has increased significantly.
Among other things, NFTs are digital representations of artwork, music, sporting events, and video games that are stored on the blockchain network. NFTs are decentralized digital assets. In December, an online poll and discussion over living artists’ most costly art sales and whether NFT art sales should be classified as “art sales” or “NFT sales” began.
Much of the debate was on whether an NFT reflected the art or merely a token independent of the underlying art. There was disagreement among the editors about the definitions, and some believed that there was insufficient data to draw any meaningful conclusions.
Result: Five Ratio One
Five editors voted no to incorporating NFTs in art sales, while one voted yes. Wednesday’s meeting resulted in an agreement to make purchases like Pak’s NFT collection, which sold for $91 million, and Beeple’s NFT collection, which sold for $69 million, off the list of top art sales, and to revisit the issue at a later time
Wikipedia’s guidelines state that a consensus may be formed without the need for a vote or unanimity. Consensus must consider the valid concerns of all participating editors that fall within the platform’s regulations.
