The Not So Distant Future of NFTs

Finally, the future of art is here. NFTs have hit only the blockchain headlines but the mainstream media for the umpteenth time. They are art. Great celebrities and brands all over the world have embraced them and fastened their drastic growth. As controversial the topic maybe with regard to energy and carbon emissions, millions of dollars have already exchanged hands. As they seem to take the world by storm, some companies have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the entire project citing negative reception from their customers while others have embraced the unique values relatable to their respective industries.

What is an NFT?

An NFT is a non-fungible token and a form of cryptocurrency on the blockchain technology. It is a digital certificate which records ownership information of assets such as a work of art. It is unique but not interchangeable.

In laity language, NFT is an encrypted database that stores unique personal digital information of art owners, music or anything safe from alteration and forgery. Only the owner possesses such rights. This news has thrown the world into limbo.

The Emergence of NFTs

In 2017, Larva Labs, an American studio developed a series of digital characters that were traded through NFTs. The information of thousands of characters stored in the database for advanced security as it guarantees proof of ownership since there can only be one owner to a specific piece, at a time.

Almost a year ago, Beeple, the third most-expensive artist in the world auctioned a collage of 5000 digital images for $69 million, a digital ball bought at $91.8 million, while a video was sold by Beeple at $6.6 million among others were traded through the NFTs.

In a nutshell, NFTs are secured digital assets in an encrypted database. Creators, artists, musicians and many other users get to store and sell authentic versions of their unique works. Many things such as videos, images, artwork or music can be traded through NFTs as long as they are converted to digital formats.

Future of NFTs

NFTs are going beyond the digital art work and gaming. That is the future. They can be used to show proof of ownership, manage licenses, proof authenticity, transfer ownership of books, equity or real estate among many others.

They would help manage licences for music and photography. With technological advancements from CDs which could be resold multiple times hence losing ownership to online streams which have reclaimed ownership and increased collectability. Photographers now can prove ownership and authenticity of their photos as there can only be one legal owner of a specific photo.

Additionally, NFTs can be used to transfer equity, books, or real estate. Digital tokens would be used to represent property which in any day is transferable to a buyer partly or wholly to close sale. Books or other forms of print media can also use the virtual technology as publishers now would claim ownership for their digital resources.

The future of NFTs is limitless and the virtual industry is endless. In the distant future of NFTs, ownership and authenticity will be reclaimed by the creators, artists or designers while to the investors and traders in the blockchain industry, a stronger financial muscle.