What You Need To Know about NFT
Plagiarism or duplication over someone’s work of art has been a nightmare for a long time in the digital world. But not anymore, thanks to non-fungible tokens or NFTs that are created to solve this issue.
Work of art in various forms such as pictures, songs, videos, and other contents that are uploaded onto internet can easily be duplicated and replicated. You will certainly find it difficult to know which digital work of art is real and which is not.
With an NFT, you can make sure the authenticity of the digital work of art though its duplications are scattered everywhere in internet. In simple words, an NFT is like a digital certificate that certifies the owner of the digital art.
NFTs are actually not something new in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world. They have been around since 2014. But they are definitely gaining traction as more and more art creators are jumping into the emerging technology to make big bucks.
The digital assets are deemed to be a popular way to buy and sell digital work of art. No wonder. Citing a report from Coindesk, a whopping $174 million has been spent on NFTs since November 2017.
So what are NFTs, how do they work, what are the uses, and where can you buy them? Let’s find out here.
What Are NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that are recorded on a blockchain and cannot be replicated. This is because the digital assets have unique identification codes and metadata that differ them from each other.
Though both run on the blockchain, NFTs and cryptocurrencies are not the same due to their different characteristics. NFTs are non-fungible. Non-fungible means that you cannot trade or exchange NFTs with something equal.
While, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and etc. are fungible. Therefore, you can exchange them for other cryptocurrencies and get the same things. For example, a value of one Bitcoin is equal to another Bitcoin. So is Ethereum, one ether is equal to one ether.
NFTs can be used to represent real-world items such as photos, videos, GIFs, audio, tweets, people identities, property rights, in-game item, and more. These tokenized version of real-world items can be bought, sold, and traded more efficiently while at the same time minimizing the probability of fraud and piracy.
How Do NFTs Work?
Similar to cryptocurrencies, NFTs run on the Ethereum blockchain as their underlying technology (though they can still work with other blockchains). This technology allows you to track the unique code of NFTs, and to know who the original publisher, first buyer, or current owner of the digital asset is.
However, anyone could still have an access to any copy of the original file. In this case, it doesn’t mean there’s only one digital version of an NFT art sold in marketplace. Copies of an NFT are still valid on the blockchain, only the value they hold is not the same as the original.
Specifically, NFTs give the owner exclusive ownership rights. With their unique codes, the owner can easily verify their ownership and transfer tokens between owners.
In addition, the owner can also store specific information inside NFTs. For instance, if you are an artist or a creator, you can sign your artwork by including your signature in metadata or attribute of an NFT.
As for the value of NFTs, it is mostly set by the market and by demand. The higher the demands, the more expensive the NFTs will be. Also to note, the price of NFTs is different from one to another depending on the person who sell them.
The uses of NFTs
NFTs can represent both tangible and intangible items. They can be arts, GIFs, videos and sports highlights, collectibles, virtual avatars and video game skins, designer sneakers, music, and even tweets.
There are bunch of uses for NTFs. One of the famous NFTs is a blockchain game called CryptoKitties. Launched in November 2017, the game lets you feed, nurture, and purchase cats with unique identifications on Ethereum’s blockchain.
Each kitty has a price in ether. It was reported that the users of CryptoKitties spent $20 million worth of ether, with some enthusiast spent $100.000 worth of ether.
The next use for NFTs is an art made by famous digital artist Mike Winklemann, who is known as “Beeple”. His composite of 5,000 daily drawings called “EVERYDAYS: The First 5000 Days” was sold at Christie’s for $69.3 million.
As mentioned above, a tweet can even be sold in an NFT like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first ever tweet. Last March, he sold the tweet as an NFT for more than $2.9 million.
Other items sold as NFTs are Nyan Cat, a 2011-era GIF of a cat with a pop-tart body, which was sold for nearly $600,000 in February; and NBA Top Shot, digital collectible trading cards embedded with iconic moments from the game, bagged more than $500 million after selling NFT in March.
Celebrities are also jumping into NFTs. Some of them are Lindsay Lohan dan Youtuber Paul Logan. Lohan released a digital collectible called “Lightning” that was for 33 ETH (Ethereum) or $57,290. And the YouTuber created a limited number of 44 Pokémon NFTs, featuring a hologram of himself. The bid price was $10,000 for the entry level.
Famous brands also don’t want to be left behind in monetizing NFTs. Taco bell, for example, sold taco-themed GIFs as NFTs. Interestingly, there is a $500 gift card in each NFT.
Where Can You Buy NFTs?
There are some requirements if you want to start buying collectible NFTs. First, you need to have a digital wallet to store NFTs. The next one is you need to buy some cryptocurrencies, like Ether. Make sure the cryptocurrencies you have are supported or accepted by NFT providers.
You can buy cryptocurrencies on Pintu, Indodax, and Binance, others cryptocurrency exchanges. Once your wallet has been made, you can now start buying NFTs. But where can you buy NFTs?
As NFTs are increasingly popular, the list of NFT providers is also growing. Marketplaces where you can buy NFTs are:
· OpenSea
· SuperRare
· Nifty Gateway
· Foundation
· VIV3
· BakerySwap
· Axie Marketplace
· Rarible
· NFT ShowRoom
Final Words
It is not surprising to see why NFTs are becoming popular nowadays especially among creators, artists, and gamers. Not only are they effective means of and selling work of art, NFTs are also commercially advantageous in a massive way.
With more creators jumping into the NFT space, this emerging technology is on track to go mainstream as cryptocurrencies. Eventually, the NFT space will undoubtedly get more crowded with new players coming in every day.
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