> Provide a channel for artists to 'sell' their art? Okay, I guess they do, but so do a million other services…

Yeah NFTs did exactly this and they’re doing a decent job. If you’re a digital artist it was really really hard to get people to buy your art without a gatekeeper/art gallery certifying it. Now it’s easy. So yes they work for specifically that purpose.

If you think coffee shops are a substitute for digital art to be sold in a permissionless global open market I don’t know what to tell you.