Much like Bitcoin, or forex trading, NFTs are also one of those things that you’ve heard about and know are all the rage right now, but you might not know much more than that. These are also a part of the crypto world and come under the Ethereum blockchain and can be anything digital. Their main purpose is for enthusiastic collectors who want to purchase a token/keepsake from their favorite content creators.
NFTs are most popular in the form of digital artwork, but they could also come as poker NFTs, music NFTs, memes, video clips or gifs and so much more. So, if you’re interested in jumping onto the next big up-and-coming project that we predict will change the world, then keep reading below.
What are NFTs?
If this is your first time encountering anything cryptocurrency related, then it’s well worth finding out what NFTs actually are. They are quite complex, but once you get the basic gist of things, it’s a lot easier to wrap your head around the idea of it as well.
NFTs stand for non-fungible tokens. Initially, that might not mean anything to you at all, but if we delve a little further into it, non-fungible essentially means that this ‘item’ is a unique and one-of-a-kind token, that can’t be replaced or replicated by another in the exact same way on the blockchain.
In contrast to NFTs, a bitcoin is a fungible item, meaning that if you traded one bitcoin for another, you’d end up with the exact same thing, which is the complete opposite of an NFT and that is what makes them so different from things such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. One NFT cannot simply be exchanged for another because each one is unique and completely different from the rest, making each NFT as rare as they come.
What Types of NFTs Are There?
1. Digital Artwork
This is perhaps the form in which NFTs first took off and started increasing in popularity. To give you an idea of just how far this has come, in 2020, Grimes sold almost $6 million worth of digital artwork with the highest-selling piece titled ‘Death of the Old’ selling for $389,000. Because of how unique NFTs are, and the one-of-a-kind status that they’ve maintained, you know that when you have a piece of digital artwork, then you have ownership rights over something that is yours exclusively, which is quite a big deal in the tech world.
2. Video Clips or GIFs
Standalone images might be the most popular form of NFTs at the moment, but video clips or GIFs aren’t far behind either. With the rise of TikTok, other platforms have started jumping onto the shorter video trend as well as seen by reels on Instagram or ‘Shorts’ on Youtube. The demand and interest in shorter-length videos have definitely increased over the years, a lot of the credit for which can be given to Vine. So, it’s not surprising that short video clips or GIFs have taken off in NFT form as well. Last year, a video of Lebron James’ dunk shot sold for almost $400,000 which broke records at the time of its purchase.
3. Avatars and PFPs
This is also quite a popular form of NFT and its unique nature makes it all the more appealing. Everyone wishes to have their own identity in the online world, now more than ever. So imagine having your own individual NFT as your profile picture that you know no one else has ownership of? It may eventually reach a point where people begin recognizing who the account belongs to simply by looking at the avatar, which makes a big difference in things like networking and your general online presence as well.
How are NFTs Changing the Online World?
So, now that we’ve looked at what NFTs are and what types of NFTs are floating about, it’s important to consider how they are changing the online world. NFTs impact people of all different categories. We might say that they are hugely beneficial to artists who are looking to sell their artwork, and this has opened a whole new way for them to do so.
As a buyer, NFTs mean that you can financially support an artist that you are a fan of as well as being able to claim ownership rights, which is impressive in itself. If you are a collector, you might also be buying with the aim to sell it for profit once its value increases, so there are plenty of uses for NFTs for both sellers and buyers alike.
