“Non-fungible token” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else.
At a very high level, most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or dogecoin, but its blockchain also supports these NFTs which is used to sell digital art.
It is the evolution of fine art collecting – now with unique digital art.
NFT art has been sold for prices 390000 US Dollar or 6.6 Million US Dollar for a video by Beeple at an auction at Christie´s.
NFTs are designed to give you something that can’t be copied: ownership of the work (though the artist can still retain the copyright and reproduction rights, just like with physical artwork). To put it in terms of physical art collecting: anyone can buy a Monet print. But only one person can own the original.
Buying an NFT also usually gets you some basic usage rights, like being able to post the image online or set it as your profile picture. Plus, of course, there are bragging rights that you own the art, with a blockchain entry to back it up.
NFTs work are like any other speculative asset, where you buy it and hope that the value of it goes up one day, so you can sell it for a profit. In the technical sense that every NFT is a unique token on the blockchain. But while it could be like a van Gogh, where there’s only one definitive actual version, it could also be like a trading card, where there’s 50 or hundreds of numbered copies of the same artwork.
Some people treat them like they’re the future of fine art collecting (read: as a playground for the mega-rich), and some people treat them like Pokémon cards (where they’re accessible to normal people but also a playground for the mega-rich).
Remeber that there can only be one original NTF – even though it can be copied.