Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are not exactly the new kids on the blockchain or cryptocurrency block, although some will like to paint it as such, NFTs have had quite the history.
Let’s get into the world of NFTs and talk about the different kinds of NFTs that you can buy, we might just have a recommendation for you too.
What is an NFT?
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are referred to as a unique piece of anything. This ‘anything’ can be a picture, an illustration, a video, virtual real estate, virtual furniture, music or a tweet. Yes, even a tweet can be an NFT. In the world of NFTs, nothing is impossible or off-limits.
To understand NFTs is to understand the concept and powering engine of the brave new world. The world of fiat and even cryptocurrency is a fungible world. You give a hundred dollars to get a product worth the hundred dollars or you can give ten 10 dollar notes, or even 100 1 dollar bills, that is fungibility.
Fungibility means not unique and can be swapped without any core difference or dichotomy. You cannot tell a dollar is different from another on account of its spending power. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different.
The world as we know it is a mixture of fungible and non-fungible things. NFTs create the building block for the world of the metaverse; this is what makes NFTs different.
A short history of NFTs
The first known true NFTs were released as part of Etheria, a 33-by-33 3D map of 457 purchasable and tradeable hexagonal tiles upon which small structures can be built with Lego-like bricks. Version 1.0, with internal trading mechanisms that appear to be non-functional, was deployed to the Ethereum main net on October 21st, 2015. Version 1.1, released on Oct 29th.
This was the internal work that would pave the way for the very first NFT commodity – the CryptoPunks, which was released on the Ethereum blockchain by the American company, Studio larva; That was in June of 2017. CryptoPunks had unique characters that looked like something out of an 8-bit Nintendo game for adults. Only 10,000 were created and sold to collectors, with the proof of ownership stored in a digital contract on the Ethereum blockchain.
The MoonCatRescue was the third NFT project, but it never reached its potential until 2021. NFTs didn't pick up well until CryptoKitties were released in late 2017. CryptoKitties represented the revolution of the NFT sector. The project went on to raise about 12.5 million dollars. A lot of crypto enthusiasts have come to believe that Cryptokitties were the first NFTs; this is not the truth.
Cryptokitties represented the watershed for the NFT movement and brought it to the limelight. It is instructive to know that while Cryptokitties are a collection of NFT cats; they are still non-fungible. If you gave out one crypto kitty and you were gifted another, the two crypto kitties would remain non-interchangeable and non-fungible.
In today’s world NFTs have become popular, penetrating every sphere of the world.
What type of NFTs can you get?
There are different types of NFTs but seeing the current market trends, NFTs are geared towards digital art sales. If you are looking at jumping on the NFT trend, there are a few areas you should look into:
- Digital arts; pictures and videos
- Digital music
- Digital tweets
- Virtual merchandise
Here is the big part – purchasing an NFT doesn’t mean you have the exclusive right to the art. Others can still use the same art, the difference is that you are the sole owner as recorded by the blockchain. That is the biggest flex and anyone who wants to purchase the NFT would have to do business with you.
There are several other NFTs that you can buy, however, one thing stands, you have to buy a non-fungible token that you are sure will appreciate over time. As earlier stated, each NFT is unique in its own right, so scarcity is normal in the NFT market.
If you choose to purchase an NFT art piece, you should consider aesthetics and the nostalgia value. Another pointer you might want to look at is purpose.
This is what brings us to our pick of NFT choice - the NFT Lab Out Of Africa collection.
The NFT Lab Out of Africa collection is one of the few NFT collections that ticks all of the boxes that you should be looking at when selecting an NFT to buy.
The Out of Africa collection is a curated, historic collection of 118 physical artworks from over 50 of Southern Africa’s most prominent contemporary artists — it leverage’s the best features of both traditional fine art and blockchain technology and allows these artists to share in the benefits of the NFT world. The aim is to accelerate the transition of NFTs to mainstream by appealing to both the traditional art collector, the modern NFT collector and anybody in between.
How do you get started in the Out Of Africa collection?
In March, a series of auctions will be held on OpenSea for the NFT representations of these artworks (O-NFTs) — these grant the holder the ability to take delivery of the accompanying physical artwork.
Alongside these O-NFTs, there will be a set of 1,770 Poster NFTs (P-NFTs) that are available via give-aways or through a free-to-enter lottery on the Ethereum blockchain opening in February. These NFT Posters will also be digital representations of the physical artworks that form the collection, however, they will grant no right to take delivery and represent a more accessible entry point into the collection for those only wanting to dip their toes into the NFT world.
The Out Of Africa collection will also be available on www.opensea.io.
Excitingly, these Posters will have fundamental value through an interesting experiment: 10% of all revenue generated by the project, including ongoing royalty revenues on resale’s — will be used to periodically purchase and destroy Posters from the open market — making them scarce assets with intrinsic value outside of their collectable value.
You can learn more about the Out of Africa collection and sign up to their NFT newsletter on their website, www.invictuslab.com.