The NFT market is booming, making headlines daily with record-breaking sales, transaction numbers, and consumer interest. And with growing attention from outside the world of crypto, the future of non-fungibles is looking bright. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) provide a way to prove asset scarcity through the immutability of blockchain technology. With each NFT being unique, the value of these digital assets can vary wildly. While, for some, NFTs may simply be a way to own a cool piece of digital art, there are multiple applications of the technology.
Here, we will be asking what can you do with non-fungible tokens (or NFTs)?
NFT Gaming or Crypto Gaming
With NFTs solving a bunch of issues regarding ownership and authenticity, the gaming scene has been keen to get on board with the technology.
NFT games combine everything we know and love about video games but with the added bonus of users literally owning the in-game assets that they’re playing with. This can be everything from character skins, rare weapons, virtual land, pets, and characters.
By tapping into the immutability of blockchain tech, NFT gaming can keep some assets truly rare and sought after.
One of the most popular “games” is Decentraland, where players buy parcels of virtual land, cosmetics, and animations with ETH. While you can wander around the virtual world without spending a Wei, knowing everything you see is literally owned makes for a special experience.
Another example of NFT gaming is Axie Infinity. Players buy and trade cute animals called Axies to form a formidable team that they then battle with. These sorts of games can even form a sort of passive income, allowing players to earn cryptocurrency as they play, thanks to the NFT gaming model.
Here are some NFT games you should definitely check out:
Digital Art or Selling NFT Artworks
Allowing digital artists a way to prove authenticity in a way never before possible, NFTs are proving a wildly successful way to sell art, making many overnight millionaires.
Before the world of crypto and NFTs, monetizing the digital art scene was effectively impossible. With people able to copy and paste an image file, proving a file was the “original” was a pipe dream.
Now with immutable blockchains like Ethereum able to track the provenance of a piece from the moment it is minted, buying artwork in the form of an NFT is secure and an established proof of ownership. With artwork in the form of an NFT, you can even display it in virtual worlds like Decentraland, thanks to the interoperability of the technology.
NFT art enables artists to make a lot of money, reaching a wider audience than they ever could before.
Getting involved in NFT art is now a piece of cake. NFT marketplaces are becoming easier and easier for people to buy and sell on. Not wanting to be left behind, traditional auction houses are taking notice. Sotheby’s and Christie’s have both got involved in the NFT art scene, looking to remain relevant as digital generations look to invest in art.
If you’d like to Create and Sell NFT’s, you can actually do that. Here’s a complete guide on how to create NFT’s from Scratch.
How to Turn your Art into an NFT?
The problem is most people may not have the talent to create Art, it’s actually ok, you don’t really need to go through the process of learning Digital art and mastering it just to Create NFT’s. If you wish to you can, but sometimes its going to be hard right!.
However, Websites like Fiverr.com allows us to hire an Digital Artist or Illustrators who can actually create ART and NFT’s for you. And to be honest, there are exceptionally talented artists out there. So, don’t get demotivated if you aren’t an artist, you can still create an NFT by hiring someone to create art for you.
The most popular marketplaces include:
Collectibles or Selling Trading Cards & Items
One of the most popular uses of NFTs is collecting rare and unusual assets. While these can often appreciate in value, for some, it’s nice just to own a unique asset or a little piece of history.
With NFTs, you can guarantee that your collectible is unique, rare, and tradeable securely.
NBA Top Shot, for example, are digital trading cards that operate on the Flow blockchain. These cards play unique, game-changing moments of basketball by the sport’s top players. Some of the rarest cards, like a LeBron James dunk, can fetch upwards of a million dollars. Operating like physical trading cards, you never know what you’re going to get in a pack.
Other collectibles include things such as digital cats called CryptoKitties. These cute bug-eyed felines are not only a fun collectible but also operate as a way to earn cryptocurrency through a breeding mechanic and the trading marketplace. Without NFT technology, this would not be possible.
The most notable NFT collectibles right now include:
Anti-Counterfeit Measures
A real-world application of NFTs that’s yet to be explored fully is the ability to prevent counterfeit goods. Linking a physical object such as a pair of sneakers, handbag, watch, or jewelry to an NFT will allow owners to prove authenticity. This not only makes purchasing a lot safer but also means reselling at a later time easier, with both parties able to track the life and authenticity of the item.
This application is already being experimented with by companies such as Louis Vuitton, who are also looking to use blockchain tech to give consumers more information on the lifecycle of an item.
Investing or Buying and Selling NFT’s
Like all scarce assets, they often prove a good investment.
NFTs can therefore generate wealth.
While the market is still evolving, investing in an NFT often proves highly lucrative. For early adopters of CryptoPunks, for example, they’re now reaping the benefits. A buyer of CryptoPunk #3365 paid only $86 for the asset in 2017. And yet, five years later, it’s worth over $2 million, bought by an NFL superstar.
Decentraland, too, is a great place to invest. With only 90,000 parcels of land, each plot is set to appreciate in value over time.
And despite the NFT scene now booming, it’s still early days with plenty of investment opportunities. Work from artists such as Fewocious were selling for just a couple hundred dollars just last year. Now, they’re worth hundreds of thousands. The potential for investment growth is still enormous.
DeFi Applications
NFTs will soon also be accepted as a form of collateral with DeFi applications.
With the decentralized finance (DeFi) space growing rapidly, the interoperability of Ethereum tokens means the value of an NFT will be accepted when borrowing. Companies such as ETNA are looking to use NFTs to borrow against, with the type and value of the asset affecting the interest rate.
This sort of integration of different spheres is only possible thanks to blockchain technology and automated smart contracts. While an NFT of CryptoPunk may have little to do with a DeFi loan, the technology that underlies them is the same, allowing some creative applications.
Digital Flex
While for some NFTs are an investment or passion, for others, they’re a bit of a flex.
As mentioned before, CryptoPunk #3365 raised a healthy profit for the investor. But for the buyer, Odell Beckham Jr of the Cleveland Browns, the 25 x 25-pixel image is more akin to a status symbol. Sporting it as his Twitter avatar, the CryptoPunk is the digital version of a Rolex watch or a Lamborghini.
Perhaps the most extravagant flex so far is the purchasing of Beeple’s Everydays for $69 million. Already an established figure in the NFT space, the buyer, Vignesh Sundaresan, proved himself a big spender and someone to watch with his purchase.
And while not everyone is going to spend such extravagant amounts of money on NFTs, there’s still plenty of opportunities in NFT gaming and artwork to express yourself through your acquisitions.
