Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have rapidly emerged as a revolutionary technology that has taken the digital world by storm. NFTs are unique digital assets that are stored on a blockchain, making them verifiable and unalterable.
Inception of NFTs
Since their creation in 2017, NFTs have seen exponential growth and have become a popular topic in the world of technology, art, and finance. NFTs have the technology to revolutionize everything from art, to real estate and even restaurants! They have opened up new opportunities for creators, collectors, and investors, and have given rise to a wide range of innovative applications.
Before I share with you 21 different applications and use cases for NFTs, let’s have a quick look back at what makes this particular product of blockchain technology very different and special.
NFTs, what makes you special?
Any blockchain expert will tell you that NFTs are unique and non-replicable in nature. But what does that mean exactly?
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are fungible and interchangeable, each NFT is one-of-a-kind and cannot be replicated. Since NFTs are created using blockchain technology, there is a secure and transparent way to verify ownership and authenticity.
This means that NFTs can be used to represent anything that is unique and has value. NFTs allow creators and owners to monetize and transfer their assets in a way that was previously impossible in the digital world.
Additionally, NFTs enable greater transparency and traceability, making it easier to track the ownership and provenance of digital assets. Overall, the uniqueness and verifiability of NFTs make them a powerful tool for creators, collectors, and investors alike.
Now let’s finally get to the good stuff… here are 25 different ways NFTs can prove to be so much more useful than traditional digital product counterparts.
21 applications of NFTs you wish you knew
Disclaimer: This is for educational purposes only. Many of these NFT applications have been mentioned owing to the surprising monetary boom in the underlying asset value. This neither tries to guarantee a definite value add in creating/purchasing said NFTs nor does it encourage spending money on them.
- Digital art – NFTs are being used to authenticate digital art, allowing artists to sell their works as unique, one-of-a-kind pieces. Digital paintings with secured ownership allow artists to enjoy worry-free authenticity. Also sells like hotcakes! In 2021, a VC bought one of Beeple’s, a digital artist’s, NFT for a whopping $60M!!! This is what started the wave of NFT paintings with crazy high valuations.
- Music rights – NFTs are being used to represent ownership of music rights, allowing artists to sell their music and retain control over how it is used. The new dynamic between fans and artists has been made possible by music NFT companies, who are fueling the transition with innovative new types of tokens that can be bought, sold, and traded online. Music NFTs allow fans to own portions of a song’s royalties, iconic memorabilia, or even access to digital concerts. Some examples of companies catering to these music NFTS include Dibbs, Unchained Music, and Royal
- Event tickets – NFTs are being used to represent event tickets, allowing organizers to prevent fraud and scalping. Create your own set of digital event tickets in the form of NFTs to easily distribute and engage your audience. Companies such as Oveit and Seatlab are ticketing marketplaces that transform the way you sell and buy experiences in events, tourism, and leisure
- Tweets – Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter converted his first tweet into an NFT and sold it for a staggering $2.9M. When will you be converting your Tweets into NFTs then?
- Exclusive access – NFTs can also be used to access exclusive content! For example, Quentin Tarantino, a renowned director of Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, created TarantinoNFTs where fans have a chance to truly own a piece of his movie, Pulp Fiction, with exclusive scripts and audio clips from Tarantino!
- College Diplomas – What is a college diploma? It is, after all, a unique identification for your college degree that says that you have earned enough credits to call yourself a graduate of that college, right? Well, guess what? NFTs can now be made into college diplomas! Companies like Degreecert and Blockcert are working towards minting NFTs for college degrees and course certifications. As part of a pilot program, a cohort of 111 graduates from MIT has become the first to have the option to receive their diplomas via a Blockcerts Wallet. The degree will forever be present in their blockchain network. This also ensures authenticity to the degree holder and security to the university as they cannot be tampered with or faked. It’s easy to create, secure, and share!
- Online domains – NFTs are being used to represent ownership of domain names, allowing individuals to buy and sell unique online identities. Yes, this means that you can even mint a domain in your name, and own it for the rest of your life. Domain provision companies like Ionos and Unstoppable Domains are leading the way to a new generation of domain ownership on the internet,
- Collectibles – The uniqueness of each NFT allows for the creation of Collectibles. Since each NFT is unique and traceable, creators can design collectibles that can, well, be collected by followers. McLaren Racing has created the McLaren Racing Collective to do just that! McLaren has launched the McLaren Racing Collective where a digital version of all McLaren F1 racing car parts was created as NFTs in limited quantities and auctioned off. The first person to collect all the parts wins an all-expense-paid trip to a Grand Prix!
- Virtual Real Estate – NFTs are being used to represent virtual real estate in games and virtual worlds, allowing players to buy and sell virtual property. Decentraland has created a metaverse where you can buy and sell virtual land! This virtual land comes with land deeds that are essentially NFTs. The uniqueness and immutability of such NFTs make them a great tool to create and verify ownership. Why would someone buy this you ask? Simply because this land will be yours forever and that entices people. One piece of land on Decentraland sold for a record $2.4 million worth of MANA (Decentraland coins)!
- Real estate – NFTs are used to represent ownership of the physical real estate, allowing for fractional ownership and easier transfers. Companies like Propy are using Web3 technologies like NFTs to make buying and selling real estate properties seamless. But how is this different from the previous Virtual Real Estate you ask? The simple difference is that, here, the NFTs are actually unique deeds for a physical slice of real estate where someone can actually live… whereas in virtual real estate, it is only in digital form and does not have any tangible benefits.
Lookout for the next post where we cover 11 more applications of NFTs that you wish you already knew!
It’s also important to be aware that these are just a few examples of the many ways in which NFTs are being used today. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative applications in the future.
So it’s quite clear that NFTs can become huge in the near future – but with that being said, it is the underlying blockchain technology that makes NFTs so unique and valuable. While some (or many) of these applications may not sustain in the future, many more alternatives are bound to pop up with better ways to leverage the features of blockchain and NFTs.
I hope you look forward to the second part of this post as we explore 11 more surprising applications of NFTs!