What Is NFTS, Where And How To Buy NFTS: NFTS better known as A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data or digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos stored in blockchain, which is a digital ledger.
NFTs can be associated with easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items (analogous to a certificate of authenticity), and use blockchain technology to give the NFT a verified and public proof of ownership. Copies of the original file are not restricted to the owner of the NFT, and can be copied and shared like any file. The lack of interchangeability (fungibility) distinguishes NFTs from blockchain cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.
What Is NFTS Where And How To Buy NFTS
The first NFT project was in 2015 on the Ethereum blockchain. The total monetary value of NFTs grew in 2021, with sales of NFTs exceeding $2 billion during the first quarter of the year. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) seem to have exploded out of the ether this year. From art and music to tacos and toilet paper, these digital assets are selling like 17th-century exotic Dutch tulips—some for millions of dollars.
What Is Fungibility?
Fungibility refers to an asset’s ability to be exchanged with a similar asset without sacrificing its value. Fungibility also defines an asset’s characteristics, such as divisibility and value.
What Are Fungible Tokens?
Fungible tokens are tokens that are tradable for each other, and their value remains constant. In the above example, Bitcoin is a fungible token because it has the same value regardless of its owner or history.
Characteristics of Non-Fungible Tokens
- Rare – The value of NFTs comes from their scarcity. Although NFT developers can create any amount of non-fungible tokens, they often limit the tokens to increase rarity.
- Indivisible – Although not set in stone, most non-fungible tokens are indivisible into smaller units. You either purchase the entire amount of, say, a digital art piece, or purchase no art at all.
- Unique – This is perhaps the most significant characteristic of them all. NFTs have a permanent information tab that records their uniqueness. Think of this information as a certificate of authenticity.
Advantages of NFTs
Non-fungible tokens bring a new dimension to digital interactions.
The three leading advantages of NFTs are:
- They’re transferable – Unlike exchange-traded fungible tokens, NFTs are bought or sold on special marketplaces. However, their value depends on their uniqueness.
- They’re authentic – Blockchain technology powers non-fungible tokens. Therefore, you know that your NFT is genuine, since it’s nearly impossible to create counterfeits with a decentralized immutable ledger.
- They preserve ownership rights – Again, this refers to an NFT’s use of decentralized platforms where no owner can alter the data once committed.
Non-Fungible Token Use Cases
Gaming
NFTs are popular in the gaming industry since these tokens solve some of its inherent problems. For example, top games such as Fortnite prohibit the sale of rare traits and accessories such as weapons and skins.
What Is NFTS Where And How To Buy NFTS
However, with NFTs, these features can easily be transferred and used in different games. As such, non-fungible tokens can help drive in-game economies.
Digital Assets
Think of Decentraland. Here, participants can buy virtual land. Another example that is closer to home is ENS (Ethereum Name Service), which uses NFTs for its .ETH domains to facilitate buying and selling.
Identity
NFTs are ideal for fighting identity theft. Examples of things that can be digitized to represent identity include academic qualifications, medical records and even our appearances.
Furthermore, digital artists can turn their work into NFTs for copyright purposes.
NFT’s use to prove identity includes converting physical game tickets into non-fungible tokens to weed out counterfeits.
Collectibles
NFTs bring a new dawn to the collectible world. Consequently, conventional collectors are now onto digital assets.
Top NFT Projects
Since the NFT subspace is growing exponentially, NFT-focused products and projects have also increased. They range from gaming networks to NTF marketplaces. Below are five of the top NFT projects today.
- OpenSea – This is the leading marketplace for NFT art and collectibles. Listed items range from ENS to virtual pets and plots of land. Notably, the marketplace allows purchases using several virtual currencies such as ETH and DAI.
- Async.Art – Async is another non-fungible token artwork marketplace that allows you to not only buy and sell your NFT but also to create one. That’s not all. The platform has some programming features that enable art creators to easily define their artwork’s appearance and behavior. In fact, it even allows buyers to buy sections or “layers” of a given artwork and customize them.
- CryptoKitties – Although we’ve discussed this project above, it still deserves to be on the list of top NFT projects considering it brought the whole NFT game to the limelight.
- Ethereum Name Service (ENS) – This is a domain name service project that came to life in mid-2017. The .ETH domain names are NFTs using Ethereum’s ERC-721 standards and are tradable on NFT marketplaces.
- Decentraland – Decentraland is a top NFT project focusing on a distributed virtual world. Here, participants can buy virtual land. Furthermore, each “inhabitant” has a special identifying digital passport.
How And Where To Buy An NFT Assets
If you’re keen to start your own NFT collection, you’ll need to acquire some key items:
First, you’ll need to get a digital wallet that allows you to store NFTs and cryptocurrencies. You’ll likely need to purchase some cryptocurrency, like Ether, depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts. You can buy crypto using a credit card on platforms like Coinbase, Kraken, eToro and even PayPal and Robinhood now. You’ll then be able to move it from the exchange to your wallet of choice.
You’ll want to keep fees in mind as you research options. Most exchanges charge at least a percentage of your transaction when you buy crypto.
Popular NFT Marketplaces
Once you’ve got your wallet set up and funded, there’s no shortage of NFT sites to shop. Currently, the largest NFT marketplaces are:
• OpenSea.io: This peer-to-peer platform bills itself a purveyor of “rare digital items and collectibles.” To get started, all you need to do is create an account to browse NFT collections. You can also sort pieces by sales volume to discover new artists.
• Rarible: Similar to OpenSea, Rarible is a democratic, open marketplace that allows artists and creators to issue and sell NFTs. RARI tokens issued on the platform enable holders to weigh in on features like fees and community rules.
• Foundation: Here, artists must receive “upvotes” or an invitation from fellow creators to post their art. The community’s exclusivity and cost of entry—artists must also purchase “gas” to mint NFTs—means it may boast higher-caliber artwork. For instance, Nyan Cat creator Chris Torres sold the NFT on the Foundation platform. It may also mean higher prices — not necessarily a bad thing for artists and collectors seeking to capitalize, assuming the demand for NFTs remains at current levels, or even increases over time.
What Is NFTS Where And How To Buy NFTS
Although these platforms and others are host to thousands of NFT creators and collectors, be sure you do your research carefully before buying. Some artists have fallen victim to impersonators who have listed and sold their work without their permission.
In addition, the verification processes for creators and NFT listings aren’t consistent across platforms — some are more stringent than others. OpenSea and Rarible, for example, do not require owner verification for NFT listings. Buyer protections appear to be sparse at best, so when shopping for NFTs, it may be best to keep the old adage “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware) in mind.
The End
It’s important to note that the NFT space is still in its infancy. Therefore, expect to see new platforms edge out the current batch of top NFT projects in 2021.
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