Utilities of NFTs

Introduction

Although NFTs are known for art and just some characteristic images, this article will not be focused merely on the artistic side, but also other utilities that Non-Fungible Tokens can bring to your entertainment and lifestyle.

The term Non-Fungible Token means that this item is unique and cannot be duplicated. If you are the owner of an NFT, this piece belongs just to you and this ownership is reflected in the blockchain network. Different Blockchain network such as the mentioned one from Ethereum or others such as Avalanche, or Solana make this possible.

Origins of NFTs

It all happened in 2021. There is no exact reason for the boom of NFTs during this year, but there some events that most probably had something to do with the rise of NFTs.

During this period, more and more people jumped into the crypto world. In some cases, they did not have a previous investment background and this phenomenon opened many doors in the retail industry. Furthermore, some famous people and investment firms also promoted this change. Besides, Investment banks that had criticized Bitcoin in the past changed their mind and some of these firms started also offering these alternative assets to their clients.

On one hand, the central banks low-interest or quantitative easing policies caused a huge increase on the price of the different crypto assets. Another topic that helped with this was the creation of different communities such as Bored Apples or CryptoPunks

If we put everything into the mix, we saw what we saw with the explosion of NFTs that occurred some years ago and the adoption of these in the society.

Utilities

However, although NFTs may be linked to pictures or avatars, there are a lot of areas beyond this topic where NFTs can play a great role, either now or in the years to come. Although it may seem interesting too, we will not talk about the several millions that were paid to acquire some NFTs in auction houses such as Christie’s or on-chain.

If you have not realized about the potential across sectors that NFTs have, you will probably see that these will impact for good these sectors in the future.

Art

With the democratization of art, this means that all artists can promote their creativity and by doing so, they are also able to reach to more people. With NFTs, you and only you are the owner of these unique pieces. Who know where the next Picasso or Dali will be? This means that art lovers and the search of the next gem is not limited to just some privileged collectors with good connections, but to everyone who loves art and beauty.

Videogames

Non-Fungible Tokens have a lot of possibilities when it comes to the gaming industry. The boom of online video games, e-sports and open world games have helped achieve this. If we think about the most iconic series, several utilities can be proposed.

For example, in MOBA games such as League of Legends, having a unique skin and spell effects for you character could not just improve your gaming experience but also trade with them after you get tired of it.

Although the normal price of skins is considerably low, this means that they are not unique, and you may see all the time the same ones when playing the game. Knowing the number of fanatic gamers, it would be interesting for some of them to have a unique skin that would make other players jealous. For companies, it would need to be checked whether this business model makes sense (high volume and low price or selling just one single skin for several thousands of dollars)

Music

Instead of collecting limited edition vinyl records or CDs, the next step in our constantly changing world could be having the original copy or even special edition versions or unreleased remixes of top hits. Instead of having the physical copy you would have it registered in the blockchain.

For musicians and DJs, this can be a great very interesting mechanism, same as art makers, to promote their job and access to different users around the world. This also removes intermediaries that take a big piece of the cake.

For example, if you like EDM and you go to festivals often, you may have noticed that recently the songs that the different DJs play are the ones that are being played everywhere, and they tend to play the latest hits. You may have seen this in festivals such as Ultra or Tomorrowland. This makes the music sessions not as original as before.

If you attend one of these sets, this can be the only time you can hear a specific unreleased song because they are the sole owners of this one. Some collectors may be interested on this specific version and request the artist to buy it.

In connection to the commercial side of this feature, since you are the owner of this song, you could set a subscription/reproduction fee if someone wants to play your song.

Nostalgic collectors may not think the same, but collecting` music `in new format files add many new possibilities and reduces problems such as storage or conservation of old formats

Videos

The movies sector didn’t change much in the last decade until Covid arrived. Starting 2020, since people could not go out, there were several days for some long-awaited movies. In other cases, that they allowed was to offer the movies via some streaming platforms.

However, what could really revolutionize the art of collecting records of the different movies would be the chance of having original and unique recordings, such as shorts or cut scenes of your favorite movie. If you think about fans of the most well-known sagas such as Star Wars or the Godfather, these items could have an exponential increase in a few years from now.

Tickets

Imagine going to a football game or concert. This is nothing unusual and something that everyone has done. If you for example go to a world cup final, you may record videos, etc., but one of the things probably you will want to keep it for this unique experience will be the tickets of the match you attended.

The same could be applied to other events. Imagine going to last tour of your favorite music band before they split or retire. This is also something quite unique that would like to keep, and it’s probably that something will increase their value with the years should you want to sell it later.

Creating and minting NFTs

The good thing about the NFTs is that the steps to create them are quite easy. It’s not correct that in order to take part in these topics you are required to have a technical profile. You may have heard the term “Mint”. This is basically registering the NFT on the blockchain, which in this case will show that belong to your wallet. Obviously, you will need to create something unique, for which you will need to show some creativity and originality. However, once you completed your first work, the steps can be summarized as follows:

Creating a Wallet

If you are new to the crypto world, don’t be afraid of terms. Creating a wallet is something that not many people do at the moment, but I can guarantee that as with other technologies, in the future everyone will have their own wallet where they can keep and guard their assets without the need of a middleman. As just discussed, this is something that anyone can do regardless of their background and technology skills.

Some of the most popular wallets out there are Metamask, Coinbase Wallet or Phantom.

Choosing the chain

The choice of the wallet is linked to the blockchain where you operate and the marketplace where you want to show your item. Some blockchains you may consider are Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Tezos. The chain you use will have an impact in the site or platform where you want to show your NFTs. As with the wallet, the marketplace you choose in the second point is also linked to this step.

Selecting the NFT marketplace

Some of the most famous sites to trade NFTs are OpenSea, Magic Eden or Rarible and they offer different However, as we discussed in the introduction, you see more and more often new places dedicated to certain niche markets.

If you are new into this world, some benefits of OpenSea is that you don’t pay any gas fees when minting and these fees are just paid if you sell your NFT.

Tokenizing the NFT

When creating the NFT, it is recommended to provide additional information and not just the basic details. For example, include some details like the name, the collection, and other technical details.

Showing and selling the NFT

Once you have linked your wallet to the desired site, you can just show your collection, sell the items, or buy new NFTs to add to your collection. In this example, I just included the basic steps, but of course the industry is constantly evolving, and you will see new wallets, marketplaces and chains.

If you want to have a look at my collection, you can just go to the links below:

https://opensea.io/collection/animals-badass

https://opensea.io/collection/gaming-gnigmag

https://opensea.io/collection/jeopard

https://opensea.io/collection/realcybercryptopunk

https://opensea.io/collection/welcome-to-the-metajungle

That should be all for now. You will see that the process is not complicated at all. Good luck and Happy Minting!