Books as NFT: The Future of Literary Ownership
The written word has been reinvented many times—on parchment, in print, and, more recently, in pixels. Each technological leap has reshaped how we access, share, and value literature. But now, an even stranger evolution is taking root at the intersection of digital publishing and blockchain technology: tokenized books. Yes, books as NFTs—non-fungible tokens—are becoming a reality, and while the phrase might conjure visions of pixelated cats and overpriced JPEGs, the implications for literary culture are far from trivial. In this emerging paradigm, collectors “own” digital editions, authors gain new distribution channels, and the definition of literary ownership itself is up for debate. So, what does it actually mean to own a book as an NFT? And how might this reshape the literary landscape? The Basics: What is a Book NFT? To understand the concept, one must first grasp what an NFT is. A non-fungible token is a unique digital asset recorded on a blockchain—a decentralized, tamper-resist...