What Are POAP NFTs And Why Are They Important
Tags: nft, nftcollectables, web3
Published: 2022-06-22 12:49:07

> Originally published by [**_UUKI Blogs_**](https://www.uuki.live/learn/what-are-poap-nfts-and-why-are-they-important)

How is the idea of keeping a track of your attendance in various events at various points in time? Also, how is the idea of community engagement by the community itself?

Sounds riveting, doesn't it? Well, this has become possible with the ongoing advancements in technology and this time we are referring to **POAP**.

POAP stands for- Proof of Attendance Protocol. A POAP NFT is a specific type of NFT that shows a person has attended an event or participated in a community at a particular point of time in the past. You can compare POAPs with a collection of concert tickets, except that they are digital and secured by blockchain technology. Here, organizers have the ability to add special perks to the POAP as more of an incentive for collectors. Each POAP comes with a custom design, these make for great NFT collectibles. Furthermore, these can be bought, sold, and traded on various NFT marketplaces. However, POAPs are intended to be personal collectible items that aren't usually sold. But, that doesn't mean that people aren't already selling these digital collectibles.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0shdopgh3dif7dk496s2.png)

The concept is as interesting as the name itself. So, how does it seem to you now when you know that you can actually have NFT (Non-Fungible Token) for corroborating your presence in various events?

Thrilling or that tickling of fun.

**How do POAPs work?**

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9t5bbqn9014d2c3ulsu6.png)

The event organizer can give out the POAPs of their events in order to enhance community engagement. The organizers can off course mint their own POAP NFTs using this Proof of Attendance Protocol. The POAP website, POAP.xyz, has everything needed to mint and send out these NFTs. However, in order to be classified as a POAP, an NFT must fulfil a set of conditions such as below:

- It must first be minted using the official POAP smart contract.

- It must have metadata related to a time or date period.

- It must have an image associated with it.

After creating the NFTs, the organizer needs to determine how to distribute them. They could put up signs with QR codes for people to download the POAP NFT at their event or send out a download link by email.

POAPs are ERC-721 tokens. It was initially minted and distributed on the Ethereum mainnet. In October 2020, POAP migrated to the Ethereum sidechain xDai due to its higher speed and lower transaction costs. This allows issuers to mint POAPs for very little cost. It also doesn't use much energy, so these NFTs are environmentally friendly.

Hope, The answer to the first question **"What is a POAP?"** must be clear to you now. Let us jump to the next question -

**‍"Why Collect POAPs?"**

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/b3hjczh1aki5n57dz3qa.png)

Take a deep breath to dive into the infinite possibilities that a POAP creates in the metaverse and then read the following key features that POAP has in it for you to have fun with-

- POAP can simply be used as a display by an individual to show that he/ she is a part of an event or had attended an event. This way one can flaunt about one’s presence in various events of significance or the fact that one is a member of a particular group. POAPs provide you with a unique feature of corroborating your attendance by storing your badges at a secure location with the assistance of blockchain technology.

- A POAP acts as a ticket to get access in an event or a group.

- It also allows you to collect badges (as mentioned above) for attending these events both in-person and digitally. (Collectors of POAP acquire this digital badge which is supported by a cryptographic record in the form of an NFT, each with a unique design giving them a collectability aspect.)

- A POAP also gives access to draw on a shared canvas with various communities, these are large collaborative forms of digital art & community engagements.

- A POAP also indicates one’s interests when one obviously likes and attends various events of a particular kind or maybe a couple of kinds.

- POAP’s distribution metric can also be instrumental to indicate the interaction or engagement of the community by displaying how many people attend an event or performed a specific activity.

- Holding certain POAPs can make you eligible to receive other perks. These perks can include a number of specialized services such as private chat rooms, airdrops, giveaways, VIP access, and more.

- POAP collection is the digital representation of an individual that doesn’t fetch anyone’s personal information as it only requires a pseudo-anonymous address.

- These kinds of NFTs have got multiple usages like conducting community polls and allowing Decentralized Automated Organizations (DAO) to vote on proposals, wherein obviously the holders who own more POAPs have got stronger voting power.

The aforementioned are some of the usages of POAPS, you must dive in to explore even more possibilities regarding what it can do in the metaverse. Please note that POAPs provide a way to prove the journey that one has been on throughout life. Hey, halt for a second The above mentioned were also the importance of POAPs (as is mentioned in the title).

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/rbvna4vkrn5s1tyl8wvq.png)

A POAP NFT enables a user to record various events by proving her/ his attendance. There are various benefits that come with using POAPs which add value to the members or the users. One must not be surprised to see more industries taking advantages of POAPs in the Metaverse.

The social interaction feature along with bragging rights make POAP move ahead with the times and certainly will flourish more.

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