Ethereum just approved a radical change for NFTs.
Breaking News: The Ethereum Foundation has just made a major change to the Ethereum blockchain that supports sharing NFTs. This is a huge milestone for the world of NFTs — and here’s why.
NFTs have been around for years but their utility has gone unnoticed for most of their lifespan. Many people still think that NFTs are just pictures on the internet, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
In recent times, we’ve started seeing a surge of NFT utility — from in-game characters to Metaverse land and property, access passes to real-world events, experiences and much more. The importance of NFTs is further validated by the fact that the Ethereum Foundation has just officially recognized the new ERC-4907 standard. Let’s take a closer look.
What is an ERC?
“Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) describe standards for the Ethereum platform, including core protocol specifications, client APIs, and contract standards.”
To put it simply, EIPs are design documents that detail improvements to the network suggested by the community. EIPs can get accepted or rejected. ERC (Ethereum Request for Comments), on the other hand, is more technical. Created by developers, an ERC contains a set of rules. Once an EIP is accepted and finalized, it becomes an ERC. On June 28th, EIP-4907 passed the final review from the Ethereum development team and has since become the 30th ERC standard (ERC-4907) on the popular blockchain.
Why is ERC-4907 important?
So what makes ERC-4907 so special? With the release of ERC-4907, the Ethereum Foundation has officially acknowledged the utility of NFT lending and given validation to the fact that the sharing of digital assets is the next big step for NFTs.
ERC-4907 is an extension of the ERC-721 (NFT) standard and proposes an additional role (known as ‘user’) that can be granted to addresses for pre-defined periods of time. In other words, ERC-4907 allows Ethereum NFTs to be rented. Thanks to the new standard, NFT owners can permit other users to utilize their digital assets for a certain period of time. ERC-4907 provides the basic foundation for the mass adoption of NFT lending.
ERC-4907 Limitations
The newfound utility of NFTs has led to the rise of lending and borrowing. While ERC-4907 is certainly a step in the right direction, it allows for only the basic functionality of NFT sharing. Whilst this standard provides validation for the concept of renting, a basic way to share assets and a technical base to build on, it has some notable limitations:
- There is no marketplace in which lenders and borrowers can be matched.
- Lenders can’t monetize the NFTs they are lending.
- Lenders can’t control what the borrower can do with their NFT.
- Borrowers can’t sublet an NFT they are borrowing.
- Lenders & borrowers cannot share yield that is accrued as a result of NFT utility & usage.
- NFT collections using ERC-721 or ERC-1155 standards have to adopt the ERC-4907 standard to access basic renting features.
Ember’s Solution
This is where Ember comes in to bridge the gap and fill in the missing pieces — providing additional functionalities to provide an all encompassing NFT sharing solution, supporting all NFT Standards with cross-chain functionality.
Ember is an NFT lending protocol, complete with an intuitive NFT Marketplace and NFT Wallet, built to provide and power the infrastructure for the NFT sharing economy. Ember’s potential and current functionalities far surpass those of ERC-4907 and & unlock new possibilities for the potential of NFTs.
Here is a comparison between Ember and ERC-4907:
The NFT lending market is still relatively small but Ember is leading the charge to see this grow exponentially. Ember’s uncollateralized NFT lending protocol is not restricted by the limitations of ERC-4907 and guarantees a brighter future for NFT markets by introducing a first-of-its-kind sharing economy.
Ember’s sharing economy
Ember introduces a sharing economy that transforms any NFT into a yield-generating asset. If you have idle NFTs, you can now utilize Ember to put them to work and start making passive income. Lenders can visit Ember and list their NFTs on the Ember Marketplace where they can be rented by others who wish to access their utilities, earning Lenders passive income. Meanwhile this lowers the barriers for adoption by allowing Borrowers to rent digital assets for a fraction of the price to access the different Games and Applications across Web3.
The newfound potential in unlocking value from a decentralized sharing economy of NFTs is the next phase in the scaling of Web3 and the Metaverse — today, there are billions of dollars in untapped liquidity across various digital assets, and Ember is here to unlock all this value.
Ember’s next-level features
The Ember Marketplace is an intuitive Marketplace which Users can use to rent, borrow, share, buy & sell NFTs of all kinds, bringing new ways for everyone to leverage digital assets, unlocking new ways to earn passive income and access the different utilities of NFTs. Buying and selling on the Ember Marketplace works in the same way that these functions do on other NFT Marketplaces. Ember’s core focus however, is enabling a sharing economy through the renting and borrowing of NFTs.
Ember Marketplace facilitates:
- Peer-to-Peer: Borrow & Lend assets listed on the Ember Marketplace as well as buying & selling.
- Direct lending: Send your NFTs to a scholar or a friend directly to their address and specify a revenue sharing scheme.
- Owner controlled permissions through usage of adapters
- Subletting NFTs: renting an NFT from the Ember Marketplace and re-leasing it to another Borrower for the rental duration.
- Payment plans: rent an NFT and pay in instalments until the agreed sale price is reached and ownership is transferred.
- Personalized Usage Statistics: Organize and manage statistics for your usage of the Ember platform, including earnings, time rented out, etc.
The Future of NFT lending
ERC-4907 is an important standard that eliminates the need for collateral in lending and borrowing NFTs. If it is widely adopted as the standard for NFT creation and programming, it will unlock safer and more lucrative possibilities for NFT owners, buyers, marketplaces and artists. Ember will support ERC-4907 as well as all other standards of NFTs.
Ember offers a wide suite of features, giving owners of digital assets more choice when it comes to NFT lending. Ember aims to secure the future of the NFT market by making lending and borrowing a frictionless experience, and solving the problem of the illiquid NFT market. The validation of ERC-4907 by the Ethereum Foundation extends to Ember, which expands upon the possibilities and opportunities that have been made possible by the introduction of this standard.
About Ember
Ember is the sharing economy for all NFTs; enabling every type and standard of NFT to be rented, leased, shared & borrowed across multiple chains. Ember operates in a fully decentralized and trustless way, with zero-collateral, zero-KYC, and zero barriers to access.
To stay up to date with the latest on everything Ember, follow us on Twitter and keep an eye on our Medium Publication and Telegram Announcements Channel for the most recent updates. You can join our community in taking NFTs to the next level on Discord.
