Being non-interchangeable, unique and non-fungible is the quality that rocks Non-Fungible Tokens popularly known as NFTs today.
We all know CryptoKitties, one of the first NFTs which were very successful since its launch in November 2017, though NFTS were present since 2015.
CryptoKitties is a blockchain game on Ethereum that allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell virtual cats. It is one of the earliest attempts to deploy blockchain technology for recreation and leisure.
The first NFT project was launched in 2015 on the Ethereum blockchain, and interest grew with the rise of interest in cryptocurrencies.
What makes NFT unique?
Any NFT is a unique non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger that has no physical or tangible form but can be sold as a piece of property so that only the owner has the original copy of the asset.
An NFTs is inherently different from cryptocurrencies: it builds trust between parties, is easily transferable in ownership, while retaining ownership rights for the asset and gives the owner the power and ownership of individual assets that are not fungible that you can have in a limited supply.
Currently, collectibles, art, music and restaurant bookings are some of the popular forms of NFT assets, but gaming, brands, ticketing, memes, fashion, academia, entertainment, digital assets in the future metaverse, off-chain assets, and even off-chain governance are the likely future of NFTs.
What is ERC-721?
ERC-721 is an Ethereum standard used in non-fungible token development. It ensures the token is non-fungible or unique. Moreover, it can come from the same smart contract and yet have a different value because of its age or rarity.
An NFT smart contract has a token ID which is defined by a uint256 variable. For any ERC-721 smart contract, it is important that the uint256 token ID must be globally unique. This token ID is used as an input by the DApp which uses a converter to get the output of the token as a digital collectible item like a CryptoKitties. These token IDs are also known as NFT Identifiers and they do not change for the life of the smart contract.
Apart from Ethereum, blockchains such as Tron, Flow and Tezos established specific standards to ensure that the digital items represented are authentically one-of-a-kind.
Klever’s own NFT marketplace
Klever is building an exciting new NFT marketplace, which will be integrated into both the Klever app and Klever Exchange, where we will give you the power to buy, mint, store and sell the most exciting digital ownership innovations on the market.
NFTs are based on blockchain technology; each NFT has a different value, unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin which have the same value.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are fungible and mutually interchangeable, but NFTs are not mutually interchangeable and non-fungible.
NFTs are created when blockchains string records of cryptographic hash, a set of characters identifying a set of data, are connected to previous records, therefore creating a chain of identifiable data blocks.
This cryptographic transaction process ensures the authentication of each digital file by providing a digital signature that is used to track NFT ownership.
Watch Klever Insight below for a quick NFTs overview.
NFT market
According to crypto market tracker DappRadar, NFT sales volume surged to $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter.
The third-quarter figure was up from $1.3 billion in Q2 and $1.2 billion in Q1, DappRadar adds.
DappRadar's numbers, which include multiple blockchains and off-chain transactions, put the total 2021 sales volume at $13.2 billion.
Many investors have been willing to pay high rates to secure and promote NFTs, anticipating them to be the biggest and most profitable collectibles in the future. David Pakman, a venture capitalist, has said that the growing value of NFTs was redefining the major entertainment industry. Investors like Mark Cuban have proposed new ways of implementing NFT technology to monetize sports tickets and merchandise sales.
On March 11, 2021, American digital artist Beeple's work Everydays: The First 5000 Days became the first NFT artwork to be listed at the prominent auction house Christie's and sold for $69.3 million. In September 2021, Sotheby's sold a bundle of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs for $24.4 million.
NFTs are really changing the arts & entertainment industry and now people behind the work will get their due credit and also be compensated financially for years to come. The only point is that they need to adopt NFTs.
Jagdish Kumar
Klever Writer