Some critics consider non-perishable tokens (NFTs) to be completely worthless. They don’t see the point. Why should they? The industry hasn’t shielded itself in glory with countless rug pulls and celebrity endorsements with immediate pump and dump.
But this misses the point. Most of the digital and physical things we use in real life are unique, and they are irreplaceable: that is, they cannot be copied, replaced, or broken into pieces.
Critics might still say, well, what’s the point? NFTs are immutable and verifiable assets on a blockchain — these sound like industry buzzwords with little meaning. However, they go a long way in exposing untold use cases.
Contrarians are found at every stage of technological innovation; You can go back to the Luddites in 19th century England who destroyed machines that threatened their jobs, or more presciently, you can refer to those who thought the internet would be a short-lived craze.
We’re getting closer than ever to digitizing parts of our lives, not in a metaverse-have-you-now kind of way, but instead by turning assets into tokenization easier than ever.
Related: Get ready for the feds to start charging NFT traders
This is true in the world of mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, as with the Internet, users likely have little knowledge of the technology underlying the system. NFTs can be used heavily in this scenario: users simply won’t care about previous negative connotations when they can access a great new way to own, rent, and sell.
The goal is negligible transaction fees, as well as a user interface that’s easy to navigate. Currently, there is no groundbreaking solution required to break down barriers and remove existing stigmas.
NFTs can irreversibly change the way we exchange value. Herein lies an opportunity to digitize assets in an open economy and in the process, accelerate a step towards the legitimacy of blockchain solutions in the mainstream market.
Leverage the power of NFTs
The first-mover advantage in the burgeoning world of technology should not be underestimated.
But the leading players in the NFT space have been getting the wrong kind of mainstream attention and there is a perception problem. Cynical corners of the media tend to cast a skeptical view of blockchain-related projects and paint the space as riddled with rugged drawdowns and abandoned roadmaps. This is an opinion that is sorely lacking in nuance and understanding. Do they realize how many people lost money in the dotcom bubble?
Related: Throw bored monkeys in the trash
What is often overlooked — and that will come as the technology matures — is how NFTs can change markets: in games, as well as in all conceivable intellectual property as we know it. The primary success of NFT solutions will result from benefit to commercial and retail users, and therefore is not likely to be intrinsically related to the volatile crypto markets.
NFTs have too many use cases to become incredibly useful. Bored Apes started with profile photos, but its provider, Yuga Labs, has already started building a springboard for the huge community it has earned its notoriety with its metaverse platforming and gaming plans.
This dramatic pivot from Yuga Labs suggests that NFTs hold a much larger purpose than just art and collectibles and hints at a viable path to mass adoption.
NFTs perform much better functions than existing systems, which will emerge across industry and consumer markets once effective and efficient solutions are created.
What makes an NFT adoptable?
The pillars of a successful NFT project are currently based on three main aspects: a strong community, exclusivity, and utility.
You need people to talk about NFTs in a positive light and share information with each other. There is a tangible sense of exclusivity in most popular projects and this has to extend to NFT implementation in any form of media. If there were a million other people with the same look as you in a game, you wouldn’t really see it as worth keeping.
The tool provides real value for NFT buying and holding. If a consumer buys a new car, they know exactly what to expect, more or less. Of course, in the case of an NFT, you want it to look good in most cases, but to generate mainstream interest there needs to be an element that serves a larger purpose.
In fact, one oft-neglected view is how the utility of NFTs can unlock mainstream success. The digital assets that NFTs represent have an untapped potential to revolutionize both products and services. Your money is safe when the asset is not subject to drastic changes in value because it serves a purpose, again, in the real world.
The remarkable transformation and evolution of NFTs beyond the way we perceive them at present is a prerequisite for this next step. The industry is slowly moving towards “normalizing” non-fungible tokens as value is defined and use cases are realized.
One great example of this is in the secondary ticket
