When Matt Zhang started building his art collection, digital artists were not on his radar. A young financier living in London in his 20s, Zhang had little interest in contemporary art. Instead, he gravitated towards the past and began buying works by Victorian painters such as John William Godward and Frank Dicksee. It was not until 2014 that he discovered Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and became curious about non-fungible tokens. Soon, he was hooked on buying art NFTs. In 2021, he took the leap to start Hivemind Capital Partners, a New York-based investment firm focused on Web3 and blockchain technology. Eager to share his passion for digital art with others, he launched Hivemind Digital Culture Fund – a curated collection of NFTs, AI art, and generative art – last year. Zhang tells us about his collecting journey and shares advice for those new to the space.

How did you become interested in NFTs?

Working on Wall Street for more than 15 years – splitting my career between London and New York – I was intrigued by blockchain technology as a paradigm shift in the world of finance. I was also fascinated by the growing impact of AI, space tech, biotech, and robotics on society. It was only natural that I began exploring non-fungible tokens. From 2019 to 2021, I bought countless NFTs, including a couple of CryptoPunks, which I then sold. At that time, it was an experiment, but then I started going deeper down the rabbit hole. My passion for art, blockchain, crypto, and AI started converging, and I started spending even more time exploring the digital art space.

Can you share some of your most recent NFT acquisitions?

I bought Starbase 2050 (2024) – a phenomenal 3-D-rendered video piece by Chinese artist Huang Rui – at a Sotheby’s auction late last year. His work, which focuses on space exploration, caught Elon Musk’s attention on X, which is how I discovered him. I also acquired London-based Canadian Chinese artist Sougwen Chung’s Spectral (2024), which was showcased at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Finally, I bought a piece by New York-based generative artist Emily Xie, who has a unique way of expressing Asian cultural heritage by writing code.

Do you live with your art? Are there a lot of screens in your home?

Absolutely. We have four screens, and we are trying to get more. We also display physical prints. I think a good artist can switch between digital and physical. Our fund collected a work last year from a digital artist, Alpha Centauri Kid, for instance. He also made five unique paintings for the series we acquired. The NFT was cool, but the physical painting, which now hangs in our office, stands out even more.

What is stopping traditional collectors from taking the leap to buy NFTs, AI art, and exploring other digital art forms?

When a new genre emerges, it is always met with skepticism. Computer art has about 50 years of history, but crypto-native and AI-native art are new and have only been here for the last 5 to 10 years. It will take time for people to become educated. Secondly, viewing these works on small screens gives them less credit than they deserve. But how many traditional collectors have a 100-inch screen at home? At first, it can be logistically challenging to display digital art. Thirdly, the crypto market has been very volatile in the last few years, leading to collateral damage that is felt by the art space. The market has gone through a difficult time, but it’s a great time to buy art. We have conviction that it will eventually come back in a strong way.

What would you say to those who think NFTs are just a fad?

We launched Hivemind Digital Culture Fund in response to that skepticism. History shows that technology drives wealth, and wealth shapes culture. As digital economies grow, future generations of collectors – startup founders, corporations, and even governments – will want art that reflects their era. Just as past movements shaped art history, digital art, NFTs, and AI-driven works will soon be a major category, not just a subset of contemporary art. Artists like Huang Rui, Emily Xie, Sougwen Chung, XCOPY, Tyler Hobbs, Beeple, and Refik Anadol are at the forefront of this shift.

What advice would you give to a first-time collector of digital art?

There’s an unlimited quantity of digital collectibles on the internet, but only a small fraction can be called digital art, and an even more minuscule percentage of that will have a space in art history. Those who are curious about the space should see as much art as possible. Don’t go above your purchasing power. Choose work that you’ll always love as part of your collection. Later, if a piece you collected has significant value, you can sell that and buy more work. That’s great, but if that was your goal in the first place, most people will be disappointed.

What mistakes did you make when you started collecting that you think others could learn from?

I did a good job of following my heart. I always liked everything I collected, but I was buying too broadly. I bought a lot too quickly. If I could do it again, I would connect with more of the artists. Once you learn an artist’s motivation, you have a higher degree of confidence, which can change your perspective on an artwork. I would take my time, be more patient, see more art, and meet the artists first. I would also have bought fewer pieces. The best collectors own significant pieces from key artists rather than a scattered selection from several different names.

What is the best way to connect with NFT artists and discover new names?

They are active on X, Instagram, and Discord. They also host casual meetups in cities worldwide. Digital artists interact with the community more often than traditional artists. It’s fascinating. You can use social media to find new artists, and you’ll see they will typically be tweeting about other artists too. There are also a lot of offline art fairs.

How should you maintain your NFT collection?

If your digital artwoks, such as NFTs, are on-chain, you must store it securely. It’s best to have them in your cold storage wallet, which only you can access. Think of it like a high-value painting – you wouldn’t hang a Basquiat in a public hallway where anyone could take it. Similarly, digital art needs secure custody. Additionally, having a physical print of digital art is an amazing way to enjoy it. Sometimes they look very different. I think the best way to appreciate art is to be able to see it every day.