You might have heard about digital art pieces sold for thousands of dollars, but what is NFT? NFT is short for Non Fungible Tokens, a kind of cryptographic asset which is created with programming for cryptocurrencies. The design makes these NFTs to have unique properties which make them non-interchangeable. It means that the tokens are not available for equivalent trade nor exchange like other crypto-based assets. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and bitcoin are the example of fungible tokens. You can trade them with other assets with the same value. NFT can be in any form of digital files like games, music, or art. Once it is minted, it would be impossible to forge or manipulate the token due to its unique characteristics.
Why NFTs?
Usually, only people who have enough knowledge and experience about cryptocurrency will be interested in NFTs. But why bother with non-exchangeable assets while there are so many crypto tokens to trade by choice? There are some other benefits for the creators or artisans who published their creations on the platform. Most of the time, creators have been struggling to get more profit as they have to work with many parties. These parties, of course, have their own role to play so that a piece of art could be worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars. In the end, the creators would only get a relatively small amount of the profit compared to the ones doing all the promotion and other preparations. But then, if those art creations are turned into cryptographic assets, then the creators no longer need to work with various agencies to publicize their work. They could sell them directly on the platform and their true fans could make a direct purchase using the determined method. Moreover, there would be much less preparation needed for the launching event. It can be done anywhere and at any time once the platform has been set.
The other platforms which could gain benefit from what is NFT are the gaming platforms. Game developers have been long interested in the cryptographic platform. How come they would not be interested if they can actually get more income from the game they created. In conventional online games, players would need to buy certain items as their characters level up. However, upon reaching a certain point in the game, those items could no longer be useful and eventually left out. The items are usually bound to the player ID and cannot be exchanged in any means. Meanwhile, when the games are combined with cryptographic technology, gamers will be able to sell their used items to other players and regain their money. This, of course, means that both the creators and the gamers would be able to sell their NFT items with higher price tags.
Just recently, even the NBA made their own NFTs and already generated more than $200 million from their sales. They collaborated with Dapper Labs (creator of CryptoKitties) to make video reels of the famous players’ highlight video reels. The reels feature the footage of the players’ dunks in different angles. It is not only the footage, but some kind of digital artwork is added into the tokens so that they become unique. If some irresponsible parties try to make the counterfeit, even if they get down into the smallest details, it would be busted right away. Aside from the sales, the venture also got more than $300 million dollars in funding from a group which has Kevin Durant and Michael Jordan in it.
The Future of NFT and dyor crypto
Actually, NFTs first emerged in 2015, but at that time they were not so popular. So few people knew about cryptocurrencies and believed in them, even bitcoin worth that time was massively incomparable to now. However, after more people got to know cryptocurrencies and the mass development of blockchain traders, their value increased by a whooping number. And now, many creators and artisans started to use the blockchain platforms as their new tool for publicity. Of course the influence from their fandom would automatically transfer into the platforms they’re using. Moreover, if someone actually bought an NFT, he / she would have the ownership. Even though the token already has an owner, it can still spread across the internet. This is what makes the NFTs popular, thus their value increases as more people get to know them. The most important point is the creator is the one who will get the most revenue from the sales. There is also a chance for ongoing revenue if people are trading the digital assets over time.
So, knowing what is NFT, how can you say about its future? Simply said, they would soon change the whole concept of finance system and trading. Those NFTs can be the digital representations of any physical assets that are being sold or created. Besides, by using the blockchain technology, it would be nearly impossible to tamper with the contracts. You might have seen or experienced first hand various situations where documents were forged and declared to be valid. But this concept would likely never happen with NFTs thanks to the blockchain technology. The most benefit you would be able to get is the removal of intermediaries. Using the cryptographic platforms, creators and artists would be able to directly reach their audiences and do transactions. This, of course, will shorten the time needed for each transaction and make the economy move faster.
In the future, NFTs will gain more popularity as their use case increases over time. We can see from the news that more public figures are purchasing some tokens with crazy high prices. Moreover, the public seems to be excited about it as well and try to follow the hype. More traders will surely move into crypto in the near future. For those new traders, NFTs would be the most convenient entry point before they start plunging into the cryptocurrencies. If you want to know more about cryptocurrencies, then getting to know NFT is the best entry point you can get.