What are NFTs?
Tags: Economics, Technology, Nft, Investment, Cryptocurrency

Change has been the only constant throughout our existence. As world gets more and more digitalised, everything that works in a physical world should also have a digital alternative. In simple words, Non-fungible tokens are certificates for the ownership of a digital asset without being aligned to any particular application. Fungibility implies the trait of any entity to not lose its value when divided into smaller entities. For example- two 50rs have the same value as a 100rs note but when a diamond is broken into two, it will not have the same monetary value. So, diamond becomes a non-fungible asset.

NFTs have been around for a few years now but they have recently gained some popularity due to the trading of digital artwork and it’s adoption by the gaming industry. The programming behind NFTs is similar to cryptocurrency but everything else is different. Each NFT possesses a unique digital signature. Hence, it can’t be exchanged for another as opposed to any cryptocurrency.

NFTs can be created for both tangible and non-tangible items. You can create a NFT for an an artwork you possess or the avatar you use to play in a video game or an image, video or music of yours. A prominent example of a NFT sale can be the first tweet of Twitter’s co-founder Jack dorsey which was sold for a whopping 2.9 million dollars.

NFT ownership is like owning an exclusive property which has a sole owner. Any individual NFT can only have one owner at a time which makes it easily tradable using blockchain technology.

Benefits of NFT-

NFTs enable people to be a collector of unique items digitally and also able to trade them without relying on any third party like auction galleries. An artist can sell their art and also decide their royalty. In the physical world, artists are often deprived of the royalty from the further sale of their work whereas NFT ensure to secure all royalties for them.

If you are an influencer or celebrity, you can release your content, as a unique piece of art. It is an interesting way for creators to monetize their content and it also provides their fans to own something related to the their favourite celebrity and claim ownership to it.

Everything in the digital world can easily be copied. Although some things are restricted by copyright laws, still it lacks the feeling of ownership. When you own an original painting in the real world, it has tremendous value compared to their copies. NFT makes this possible in the digital world for any item. You can sell or buy special moments, posts, images, videos etc of your choice using NFTs.

Future of NFTs-

As for any new product, future of NFT is still blurry yet with history as witness the most likely prospect for NFTs is only to grow far and beyond from its present state. Although value of NFT largely depends on what the other person is willing to pay but same is the case with any property.

Like any investment, there is also a downside if it does not have the same resale value or you struggle to find a buyer. Overall as for all things on the internet, it is highly unlikely to not get a buyer if you hold something of value. If you are personally attached to an artist, the property you hold also has a personal value to it as you are the sole owner of something related to them.

There are open marketplaces like Rarible or Opensea where you can buy and sell NFTs. So, come and explore. The opportunity to be a collector of the new era awaits you.