--- title: Lots of People Think NFTs Are Cryptocurrency (and They're Wrong) description: More than 1 in 10 people (12%) incorrectly think NFTs are a form of cryptocurrency, according to a new poll from Money and Morning Consult. authors: - name: Mallika Mitra role: Contributing Editor url: https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/ bio: Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia. education: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College at_money_since: 2020 articles: 395 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - CNBC - Bloomberg - Kiplinger - Barron's - Bankrate - WGN-TV - CBS News Radio - This Morning With Gordon Deal - Everyone's Talkin' Money social: - https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/ editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2022-04-04T14:48:04.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:23:37.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Cryptocurrency - News word_count: 571 canonical: https://money.com/people-think-nfts-are-crypto/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Illustration of people looking at an NFT with cryto-bitcoin like markings](https://img.money.com/2022/04/News-People-think-NFTs-crypto.jpg?crop=0px%2C152px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Between Dogecoin, Mooncoin, Garlicoin, BaconCoin and so many more... there are a lot of cryptos to keep straight. But "NFT" isn't one of them. That's right, an [NFT, or non-fungible token](https://money.com/what-are-nfts/), is not a [cryptocurrency](https://money.com/what-is-cryptocurrency/). But if you didn't know that, you're not alone: More than 1 in 10 people (12%) think NFTs are a form of cryptocurrency, according to a new poll from Money and decision intelligence company Morning Consult. The 2,210 respondents of the survey were given a lineup of potential definitions for NFTs, and only [26% chose correctly](https://money.com/people-know-what-nft-is/). In addition to the misunderstanding that NFTs are a kind of cryptocurrency, 7% incorrectly thought NFTs were a physical asset traded online using blockchain technology, and 12% wrongly identified them as digital assets that can be bought, sold or traded with U.S. dollars. (This survey took place before [reports](https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/140115/opensea-rolls-out-credit-card-payments-for-nfts) that NFT marketplace OpenSea is rolling out direct card payments.) The rest of those surveyed (43%) said they didn't know or had no opinion on what an NFT is. NFTs are a new innovation, and the technology is definitely confusing, so don't beat yourself up if the question of what an NFT is leaves you stumped. Plus, while they aren't actually a kind of cryptocurrency like [bitcoin](https://money.com/what-is-bitcoin/), they're in the same ballpark. First, let's nail down the definition: NFTs are unique digital assets with ownership data that can be stored on a blockchain and bought, sold or traded online. "Non-fungible" refers to something that can't be replaced in the same way that, say, a dollar bill can. That means that if you buy an NFT of the [Nyan cat with a Pop-Tart for a body](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/business/nft-nba-top-shot-crypto.html), or Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's [first tweet](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-dorsey-nft/twitter-boss-jack-dorseys-first-tweet-sold-for-2-9-million-as-an-nft-idUSKBN2BE2KJ), you and you alone own that digital asset. While you likely can't actually get your hands on *those* NFTs — they sold for nearly $600,000 and $2.9 million respectively — you can buy other NFTs on marketplaces like [OpenSea](https://opensea.io/). That's where cryptocurrency comes in. Typically, you haven't been able to just fork over U.S. dollars for these digital assets. Most NFTs are part of the [Ethereum](https://money.com/what-is-ethereum/) blockchain, and are bought with the native token of the blockchain, ether. In short: ether is a cryptocurrency, and an NFT is not. "The biggest barrier to understanding NFTs is that they are based on the complicated technologies of blockchain and cryptocurrency," Charlotte Principato, a Morning Consult financial services analyst, wrote in an email to Money. An earlier Morning Consult [survey](https://morningconsult.com/2022/03/29/beyond-crypto-focus-on-defi-and-web3/) found that people who [own crypto](https://money.com/best-crypto-wallets/) are much more likely to be aware of NFTs than those who don't. The same goes for their awareness of terms like blockchain and Web3. We see hints of that in the Money and Morning Consult study, too. For example, millennials and men, who are most likely to own cryptocurrency, report better understanding of NFTs than other demographics, Principato said. Roughly one-third of male respondents (32%) identified the correct definition of NFTs, versus 20% of female respondents. Meanwhile, 31% of millennials chose the actual definition compared to 26% of Gen Z-ers, 22% of Gen X-ers and 25% of Baby Boomers. "It is very likely that the respondents who reported higher understanding of NFTs are cryptocurrency owners," Principato added. *Julia Glum contributed to this reporting.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/people-think-nfts-are-crypto/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "NFTs", "item": "https://money.com/nfts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Lots of People Think NFTs Are Cryptocurrency (and They're Wrong)" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/people-think-nfts-are-crypto/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/people-think-nfts-are-crypto/", "name": "Lots of People Think NFTs Are Cryptocurrency (and They're Wrong)", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-04-04T14:48:04.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/people-think-nfts-are-crypto/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/people-think-nfts-are-crypto/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:23:37.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Lots of People Think NFTs Are Cryptocurrency (and They're Wrong)", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/04/News-People-think-NFTs-crypto.jpg?crop=0px%2C152px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-People-think-NFTs-crypto" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mallika Mitra", "url": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/#author", "description": "Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. 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