A Systematic Review on the Evolving Aesthetics of NFT Art

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets stored on a blockchain that certify ownership of an item, giving rise to NFT art, where digital creations are tokenized to provide verifiable scarcity and provenance. To clarify the polarized debate surrounding this phenomenon, this paper conducts a systematic literature review of 18 academic articles (2020–2025) to synthesize the current state of research on its aesthetics. The review first maps the field’s methodological and typological landscape, and then presents three core thematic findings: the reconfiguration of value from intrinsic visual merit to social factors like community and identity; the evolution of the artist’s role from creator to system designer and community manager; and the adaptation of traditional art world frameworks. The study’s primary contribution is the articulation of a new theoretical framework, “decentralized aesthetics,” which posits that the value of NFT art is derived from the holistic, participatory experience it generates across perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and socio-cultural dimensions, rather than from its isolated visual properties. Finally, the paper identifies critical research gaps, such as a lack of longitudinal and cross-cultural studies, and proposes an agenda for future inquiry into digital creativity and ownership.