NFTs are transforming blockchain which we have known so far. They are rapidly becoming an invertible part of a whole new digital lifestyle economy.
What are NFTs?
NFTs were first introduced in 2017 and they stand for non-fungible tokens. This means they cannot be replaced with or exchanged for another identical NFT as each token is entirely unique. NTF’s are based on ERC721 standard. Why is ERC721 then so important?
Unlike the ERC20 standard used for creating a single type of tokens, the ERC721 makes each token unique to its owner and in result allows the ownership of unique digital or non-digital assets. This is huge for several reasons, particularly because of various new use cases it enables and its ability to open the door to a completely new level of economy for numerous industries such as games and art, but also the beginning of new markets like digital fashion!
A pioneering implication of using this new token standard is one of the world’s first blockchain games Crypto Kitties where players collect, exchange and breed unique digital kittens, each represented by an ERC-721 token. In 2017 the game experienced an explosion in popularity and it almost congested the Ethereum network. Some of the kitties that were created back then are now worth thousands of dollars! The first CryptoKiettie called Dragon was sold in 2019 for 390 000$!!
Since 2017 a lot of things in this space have evolved and it looks like 2021 is a year of NFT tokens! Notably there are two extremely interesting projects which stand out; Flow Blockchain created by the inventor of Crypto Kitties and Lukso created by one of Ethereum core developers Fabian Vogelstellar who is also the inventor of ERC723 and ERC-20 standard. Both attempting to be leaders in this new emerging digital economy and utilising NFTs for endless potential use cases ranging from design, art, gaming, fashion like you have never seen.
The NTF trend is truly fascinating and worth observing as it revolutionizes blockchain technology paradigm from being boring and mostly geeks-dedicated to a space of digital collectibles, virtual reality, digital lifestyle and so many entirely new markets which could not exist without the ERC721 standard. Along with our everyday life becoming progressively technology-driven the NFTs projects surpassing the physical markets and shaping the new digital, decentralised ecosystem are technological responses to our future and deserve attention- so certainly more to come about this here!
