Source: Financial Times
NFTs are technically virtual objects established in the blockchain, a digital ledger of operations distributed across an entire network of computer systems, holding unique and non-interchangeable features.
NFTs can fundamentally be anything, but a more significant part of it can be in the form of art, music, video game items, and videos. The most distinguished among the list are artworks, where these types of digital tokens are selling for millions of dollars at major auction houses, allowing artists to capitalize more on their work compared to when they were merely posting it for free or selling it for cheap.
NFTs have been around for some time now, but they took off in 2017 when a decentralized application called CryptoKitties, a place where users can buy, trade, and collect virtual cats, was launched in the metaspace. It also made headlines when digital artist Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, sold one of his pieces—“Everyday: The First 5000 Days”—in JPG format for roughly $69 million. Since then, plenty of companies have experimented on various NFT materials to test their capabilities. As a result, in 2020, the NFT market ballooned by close to 300% and the number of NFT wallets on which NFT transactions have happened nearly doubled.
Aside from artworks, there has been a steady influx of companies that incorporate this piece of blockchain technology into video games. Ever since the remarkable success of CryptoKitties, gaming has become a potential vessel for some NFTs. Though the concept is not very new, given how some brands already sell various in-game cosmetic items like skins, companies are still inclined to take a jab at the NFT sector because of its growth potential. Because they perfectly complement each other, gaming and NFT have become the particular kind of pairing that is inclined to make a splash.
Non-fungible tokens are not just limited to a single kind of group; they are available to anybody who wishes to have them, as long as they can afford it. Since they are essentially a digital version of a product, an NFT can only have one owner. Ownership of a particular product is managed through unique metadata that no other token can replicate, no matter the circumstances, making any NFT product distinct.
The NFT market has had quite a phenomenal growth spurt over the years, and it is not showing any signs of slowing down.
