NFTs 101: Demystifying This New Asset Class
With NFTs regularly selling for millions of dollars at traditional auction houses like Christie’s (c.f. Beeple auction and Bored Apes auction) and celebrities releasing their own NFT collections (c.f. Mike Tyson’s NFTs and Leo Messi’s NFT collection), it’s hard to ignore this global phenomenon.
But what are NFTs exactly?
In this article, we explain NFTs in the simplest possible way. There are many more aspects that we will explore in further articles.
“Non-Fung… What!?”
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, let’s unpack this:
- Non-Fungible = unique
- Token = another term for a crypto asset
NFTs may serve a wide range of purposes and represent one-of-a-kind objects such as art pieces, music recordings, trading cards, in-game items (i.e. wearables), assets for the metaverse and other collectibles. Each of these objects represented by an NFT are, in essence, unique.
NFTs are not limited to the digital world
One can think of NFTs as digital certificates of ownership. They may be purchased and sold just like any other piece of property.
In some circumstances, NFTs may even actually reflect tokenized ownership of a tangible object. For instance, an NFT could theoretically be used as a property deed proving ownership of a house or land (yes, in the real world!).
“I think what we’re going to start seeing is every major entertainment creator, art-centric, music-centric company… diving into this (NFTs). So I think over time, it’s going to evolve a lot. Since there are so many use cases, there’s no rulebook for how it’s going to evolve.”
— Kyle Gordon, Co-Founder of DoinGud
What exactly makes an NFT a “crypto” asset?
NFTs are stored on a blockchain — Ethereum for example — which guarantees not only transparency, but also corruption and censorship resistance while making ownership and provenance easy to verify.
Cryptography ensures the reliability and immutability of the data stored on the blockchain, meaning that the history of an NFTs ownership can never be altered.
Creators and brands can leverage NFTs to create next-gen experiences
NFTs enable futuristic attractions like galleries and concerts where the physical world, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) collide. NFTs can serve as one-time passes or unlimited memberships, giving owners exclusive access to content, events, and experiences.
“I think over time, artists will get more experimental with the ways they can monetize their work and their craft, specifically from their audience and their followers. You know, this is giving ownership to audiences of your work. And I think there’s something to be said about that.”
— Kyle Gordon, Co-Founder of DoinGud
Crypto assets, along with the advent of Web3, enable people to be self-sustainable and autonomous. More specifically, NFTs enable creators to monetize their work and level the playing field, taking out traditional gatekeepers in the art world.
About DoinGud
DoinGud is an NFT ecosystem focused on inspiring creativity and positive social impact. We pride ourselves on accessibility and sustainability, providing next-gen Web3 tools to empower our community to create, curate, collaborate, and connect with one another in the digital space.
Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
Article written by Christian Bright and edited by Adrien Berthou and Dan Kahan.
Article also published on our self hosted blog.
