If you have been surfing the internet or following the everyday news, especially over the past few months, you must have seen and heard ‘NFT’ making quite some rounds. But do you know what’s beyond and in-depth of this acronym? (you ain’t alone!) NFTs is a brand new, freshly outta oven concept, a very exciting one, and so in this read, we’ll be going through and to its very ends. By your final scroll, we guarantee you’ll know all about it!
What is NFT (non-fungible token)?
To begin with, NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. These are unique digital assets/goods that are part of/based in/recorded on a blockchain.
Too much? I agree. Let’s break it down.
Starting with Non-Fungible. Fungible is anything that is interchangeable or replaceable by an identical item, says the dictionary. From this we can understand that Non-Fungible correlates to unique, often identifier and interchangeable, directly which further rightly makes it irreplaceable.
Next, Digital Assets. There’s an array of very diverse and very everyday stuff that finds it place in the digital arena and can qualify as NFT. Art – drawings, paintings, photos; music, movies, in-game items & avatars, kicks, domain names, and oh, the most exciting one – memes! And also tweets. (yeah, crazy no?) Basically a whole lot of cool/fun real-world stuff that NFTs tokenize or represent. In other simpler words, with the help of NFTs, it is this tokenization that symbolizes the ownership of the assets via a digital authorization or certificate.
Lastly, Blockchain. Blockchain is a technology of digital ledger. Remember the school’s attendance register? Something along those lines. It is a public digital record that hosts an ever-updating network of blocks, and A.K.A. digital assets all linked or chained together. Popularly loved to be tamper-free, it essentially ensures security, accurate recording of ownership, and tracking of assets.
If you got the hang of it, (which we hope you did) pretty sure you’re going “woah, cool!” Right? Because same!
Why NFT is so much into Buzz?
Though the first crumbs of NFTs go back in the days, 2014 precisely, it’s only now getting its (arguably due) fame. It has arrived and blazed up, in all its glory and as the craze predicts, is here for a long run. But then again, why though?
First and foremost, blockchain technology is trailblazing and is a revolution in itself. It has and will change the way data is taken care of digitally. Since it’s entirely digital, it keeps at aby any human errors or manipulations. Hence, eventually bringing much higher security, better-managed transactions, improved ability to track & verify, and enhanced transparency, into the system. And this amazingly goes for a plethora, if not all, sectors and industries. Ooof!
Shining the light, especially on NFTs, NFTs are pretty much a pro version of the fellow sensational cryptocurrency., and what makes it so is the fact that the former revolves around representing/tokenizing real-world assets. Now sure, this representing or giving a unique identification or token to a real-life asset is no new day concept, but what actually is creating all the difference is when this is married together with the blockchain tech. When both, with their respective pros unite, what is birthed is an epic revolutionary shift in how we handle data at all.
Another aspect that makes NFTs promising is how they empowered the creators. With its ever-so-long list of benefits, it has given the creators of the assets a safe and secured global playground to not only showcase their piece of effort and craft but, on top of that monetize it. With the rightful credits and curbed risks of fake/copies, creators and artists are being bestowed with the flourishing environment that values and is well-flowing with advancements and lucrative opportunities to maximize their dues.
How You Can Create NFTs?
All the exciting stuff must have got you wondering “how are these NFTs made though? Like its digital and all, so what’s the working like”
So NFTs are brought to life through a process called Minting. They are created, or instead, the correct term – minted which is nothing but entering/recording/writing the digital asset to the blockchain. This procedure broadly is a three-step deal:
– with the first step being the creation of a new block
– then, validation of the information
– and finally, recording the information onto the blockchain.
It is through the instrument of smart contracts that ownerships are assigned, acknowledged, and transferred.
Note: NFTs can only have a sole owner at a time.
Where You Can Sell NFTs?
Now that the NFTs have got you pretty fascinated by them, we’re sure you wanna look them up for yourselves. Right? So “where do I go looking for them?” Well, here—
Just like our go-to beloveds like amazon, myntra, and more, there exist marketplaces of similar fashion, with NFTs on the racks. Broadly these are sectioned into Decentralized and Centralised, the former being a more preferred and advised pick. To name a few:
- Opensea |art, domain names, music, photography, etc
- SuperRare | art
- Raribal |art, gaming, photography, etc
- WazirX | art, photos, videos, audio
- BollyCoin |all things Bollywood
- Niftygateway | art, photography, 3D, music, etc
- Foundation | art, 3D art, photography, video
Ethereum – Most Famous Blockchain for NFT?
This is another word that you’ll often find, at most times, going off with NFTs – Ethereum. To give you a brief for better understanding, Ethereum is a blockchain network, which on a wide scale is home to many NFTs.
Is it the only one? No, there are other blockchains such as Solala, Flow, Tezoz, EOS, WAX, and more that too host and enable the purchase of NFTs. But Ethereum stands atop the list. Here’s why—
Ethereum was the one to actually popularise NFTs, credit for which goes to it being the first smart-contract-enabled network. This stands to be the reason for the network to have to be highly secured and make ownership and tasks of transferability smoother and withhold the genuinity.
Further, this data architecture and its implied benefits, enable NFTs to sell for a comparatively higher price point. This makes Ethereum more creator-friendly (obviously so).
Since it’s been a choice for both the creators and the purchasers, it naturally offers a wider market /audience, with heightened reach and exposure, further attracting the creators to stick to Ethereum. It’s like a loop!
Fun fact: Ethereum’s currency is Ether (ETH).
Examples of NFTs
We think enough talk’s been done about NFT, and it’s time to put the show on. Here are some incredibly popular and very talked-about NFTs, some of which’s selling prices will most definitely have your eyes popping out!
- The Merge by PAK: Sold for $91.8 Million
- Disaster Girl by Zoë Roth: Sold for 180ETH
- Success Kid by Laney Griner: Sold for 15ETH
- The Azuki Collection by Chiru Labs: An anime-themed collection of 10000 avatars
- Trollface Club by Carloz Ramirez: 100+ unique reworked trollfaces!
- Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) by Yuga Labs: A collection of 10,000 different Apes
- CryptoPunks by Larva Labs: 24 x 24 pixels’ art image, with CryptoPunk #5822 being sold for $23Millions and CryptoPunk #7523 sold for $11.75Millions
NFTs are anything but not boring. They are seeing great great heights, today more than ever and it’s only a matter of time before these at-first heavy-looking works make space in the everyday vocab and scenario of one and all. Hopefully, this read did so for you!
