Regarding the interoperability of NFTs (by Glory Lim- HAVAH CEO)
The practical value of blockchains
I was recently awarded with an ‘Ethereum Since 2017’ badge through noox. I was later told by my friend who is also the creator of this service that I was the first person to receive the badge, and he congratulated me on being an old-timer (started in blockchains since 2016).
The ups and downs of bitcoin prices have been a long rollercoaster ride since I started out in the blockchain world. Depending on how I was doing, at times I felt certain that everything in the world would eventually consist of blockchains, and on other days I felt gloomy fearing all coins would eventually become nothing more than digital trash. Though I generally thought that the value of a blockchain should be derived from something other than the price, I didn’t exactly know how to value it in any other way.
During the last few years, I had the opportunity to get involved in the release and running of a few blockchain services, and I was an avid user of other services as well. The question I kept asking myself was always about how I could define the inherent and practical value of blockchain for the larger public. And I decided to look to Web 3.0 for ideas.
Metaverse, NFTs, and Interoperability
The solution to this problem was somewhere hidden in the concept of the ‘Metaverse’ and NFTs. To be more precise, my proposed solution was to implement the interoperability of NFTs that were issued from different chains within the same metaverse, so to speak. Furthermore I was able to get help from some unique experiences and other concepts I encountered recently.
- Metaverse: The company that I was part of used ‘Gathertown’ as a way to keep employees engaged while working from home, and this was my first immersive experience of the metaverse UX. In Gathertown, you would move around in a virtual office space, visit staff members in their respective seats, strike up conversations with people, etc. After seeing how effective it was, I was convinced that all interactions at work could be conducted through the metaverse at some point.
- NFTs: Another dilemma was trying to find potential ways to expand the value of NFTs within blockchain environments and I happened to come across two interesting concepts. One was a J.P. Morgan report named ‘Opportunities in the metaverse’ and another was a tweet from PartyDAO project lead John Palmer.
‘Opportunities in the metaverse’ talks about the growth of the ownership economy. Although the concept itself dates back to 2007, the report explains that this time around, the growth is being led by Web 3.0. What’s interesting is that through NFTs, ownership could now be guaranteed digitally with advancements in technology and the report postulated that various economic opportunities would arise due to this technology. (Although it’s been talked about before, I never realized the weight of this notion until then.)
Another interesting thing I saw was John Palmer (PartyDAO lead)’s tweet. I may have missed his tweet before, but after taking an interest in the metaverse and being convinced of the role that NFTs will play in the future of the metaverse, his tweet resonated with me more.
I tend to agree with his statement in the sense that NFTs are digital objects that can have many versatile uses, but especially so when combined with the metaverse where digital objects meet a digital world simulating the real world perfectly. In that sense I believe that NFTs will not just stop at expensive pieces of art to trade online or a certificate of ownership, but will literally act as objects as part of the metaverse just as different objects exist in the real world.
- Interoperability: There will be a lot of different metaverses in the future, and in those metaverses will be digital objects created through many different blockchains. These objects must be able to interact with each other, just like when I put on my New Balance sneakers in the morning I expect to continue wearing them to work or to meet a friend at a restaurant. I expect that the object I own can be used in all the places I choose to go with me.
A vision for the future
Opensea recently started supporting the Solana Network. Although there weren’t any official announcements, they will probably introduce more networks in the future. NFT service providers by nature will try to expand their business by supporting multi-chain activities, and will have to assign development resources to implement each network that is brought onto their service. After a while this will become a routine process, as this cycle continues for each network that the service supports.
However, Opensea currently does not support the ICON Network. Maybe they never will. So, does that mean that NFTs from the ICON Network can never be traded on Opensea? Not really. You could transfer the NFT from ICON to Klaytn, which makes it possible to be traded on Opensea. Opensea doesn’t need to devote development resources to support ICON NFTs from being traded on their service that way. In turn, the NFT holder can trade their NFTs in the biggest marketplace in the world. Thus, in other words, the chain on which my NFT was issued does not limit the usefulness of my NFT.
Metaverses will naturally support multi-chain operations more and more. If you imagine that NFTs are items that are part of your outfit, it will be tedious to develop and adapt your service every time you combine an outfit with the ‘bag’ from BSC, ‘hat’ from Klaytn, and ‘shoes’ from ICON just so you can complete your ensemble in one place. If that were to be the case, such an inefficient system would not be sustainable in the long run.
It would be absurd to think that just because your digital objects are spread across different blockchain networks, you would naturally be limited in using it. Would it make sense that I cannot wear my Solana-issued shoes because a metaverse service only supports Polygon but not Solana?
Someone must resolve this hurdle before the next evolution of NFTs can take place. The solution must encompass a way to get around the fact that multi-chain NFT service providers have to manually add different networks to their service, and therefore have Solidity, Rust, and JAVA capable developers in house to service their platforms. An NFT must be able to retain its value regardless of which blockchain or service it’s on. Hence the issue of ‘NFT interoperability’ is likely the most important issue that must be addressed in the near future and will play a critical role in the evolution of NFTs.
In conclusion
If we can imagine a world where NFTs are actually utilized across many areas of life, the need for interoperability is paramount to the next step, and it is likely that guaranteeing NFT interoperability will lead to the mass adoption of blockchains more than ever before.
Once it is understood that there is a clear need, the only thing that’s left is for someone to come up with a solution.
The HAVAH team including myself have taken on this challenge and hope to open a new chapter in the usage of NFTs. Are you ready to experience the new NFT metaverse with us?
