'Minted: The Rise (and Fall?) of the NFT' Review: An Energetic, Wild Look Into the History of the NFT
- Romey Norton
- Apr 7
- 3 min read
By Romey Norton - April 7, 2025
In March 2021, the art world changed overnight. A digital artwork by Beeple, once known primarily within niche online communities, sold for an eye-watering $69 million at a Christie’s auction, sending shockwaves through the traditional art market and the emerging world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This historic sale is the spark that ignites Minted, a gripping new documentary that examines the explosive rise, meteoric success, and uncertain future of NFTs.
For those of you who don’t know what an NFT is, it’s a unique digital asset, like a digital collectible, that uses blockchain technology to represent ownership and authenticity of a specific item, such as artwork, music, or virtual land. Still confused? Don’t worry, the documentary does well in explaining what it is and how people use/buy them.
Directed with a sharp eye for spectacle and nuance, Minted takes viewers on a whirlwind journey through the high-stakes of digital art and blockchain technology. From struggling artists suddenly finding themselves millionaires to tech entrepreneurs betting big on a decentralised creative economy, the film captures the thrill of a revolution in real time.
Opening with an auction, audiences are in Mike’s (Beeple) home, with his family running around him and we’re watching his art being bid on at over three million dollars. This rises to over fifty million dollars and no one in that house can believe it. The documentary is then filled with Interviews with collectors, skeptics, and industry insiders who shed light on environmental concerns, rampant speculation, and the ever-present fear that the NFT boom may be little more than a digital gold rush destined to crash. As values soar and plummet, artists who once saw NFTs as their salvation now grapple with the volatility of a market they can’t control.
Visually, the documentary mirrors the digital age it explores, seamlessly integrating dynamic graphics, online artifacts, and archival footage to bring the NFT craze to life. Paired with a pulsating electronic score, the result is a film that feels as fast-moving and unpredictable as the world of NFT’s.
As the documentary continues, we see how quickly the NFT’s became corrupt with counterfeit NFT’s and how people's artwork isn’t protected. The documentary could have done with delving deeper into the legalities behind this, and if/what will change in the future.
Towards the end, it’s a lot of lessons learned. And while there is still money to be made in NFT’s, the lines of morality and security for artists against scams is blurred. Artists are not valued or respected, and they should be. The documentary ties up some of the stories we’ve heard from artists, and ultimately NFT’s helped them, liberated them, expanded their platform, but eventually let them down.
Whether you’re a crypto evangelist, a curious outsider, or a staunch skeptic, Minted is an essential watch. It captures a moment in history where art, technology, and finance collide, offering a front-row seat to the birth (and potential collapse) of a new artistic frontier.
Minted: The Rise (and Fall?) of the NFT releases on Netflix April 9
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