Non-fungible Token (NFT) Technology in the Art Industry: Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Adoption Barriers

How do art entrepreneurs make decisions about adopting blockchain technologies? This study examines the link between non-fungible token (NFT) adoption and business outcomes. Through survey data from 35 Czech art market stakeholders, including curators, art dealers and galleries, we investigate the strategic decision to adopt NFT technology through the lens of digital entrepreneurship and digital affordance theory. Our results highlight the potential of NFTs in addressing historical challenges of the art industry, such as provenance tracking, authenticity verification and transaction transparency while also identifying challenges and adoption barriers, such as regulatory uncertainties. We also show that while respondents rate blockchain systems as potentially useful, the actual NFT adoption rate remains low. These findings provide actionable insights for stakeholders and contribute to entrepreneurship literature by investigating entrepreneurial decision-making in markets adopting digital innovations.