The Future of NFTs 🌶

NAGA’s commitment to our community inspires us to leap into the thrilling niche of NFTs. This is why we’re launching our NFT platform soon. We want to give power to creators and an opportunity to benefit from their work. We also want to make business more thrilling. We can’t wait to have you on board.

But before that, let’s discuss what NFTs are all about.

Why the fuss? 🥴

Early in March, a certain man sold his artwork for $69 million at Christie’s. No, it wasn’t Mona Lisa. But you know what? What he sold was equally unique. It is called an NFT.
Interestingly, the highest this man named Beeple had sold a print until October 2020 was $100. We thought we had seen it all until former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey auctioned his first tweet for $2.9 million as an NFT too. Now, you would agree that the word “NFT” is worth all the fuss. So what’s an NFT?

What is an NFT? 💎

The word NFT is an acronym for Non-Fungible Token. Fungible translates as exchangeable or replaceable. If you purchase a pair of shoes from a store, you’re getting one, but at the same time, other people can get that exact design from the dealer. So, it is not unique to you alone. In essence, the pair of shoes is fungible. Now, imagine Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Picasso’s Girl before a Mirror. Each of these pieces of art has just one original copy in the world. They are non-fungible. That is what an NFT is.

How do NFTs work? 🎶💸

NFTs are created or “minted” from digital objects representing intangible and tangible objects like music, collectibles, videos, GIFs, arts, and virtual avatars.

Now, the question is, how do easily-reproducible items like photos, audios, and videos become unique and non-interchangeable? They are stored in a blockchain, the same digital database that underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. This digital ledger gives NFTs public proof of ownership. In other words, no one can alter the record of ownership or copy/paste a new NFT into existence.

The Ethereum blockchain widely secures NFTs, although other blockchains can implement their version of NFTs. NFTs’ unique data makes it easy to verify the ownership of the tokens. Additionally, you can customize your NFT by adding specific information to it. For instance, artists can include their signatures in the metadata of their NFTs.

What exactly is the metaverse? 🌐

There’s a reason everyone is talking about the metaverse these days. Imagine someone told you when you were ten that you could be in Tokyo and have coffee with your friend in New York. That would be inconceivable, right? Now, that is what is right before us.
The metaverse promises so much, and almost every organization wants to be a prominent figure in it.

With NFTs, you can create unique identities; meet new people with similar interests, and live out your fantasies in an acceptable environment. NFTs can be used to trade and transfer any digital goods; they can represent ownership of the virtual property.

Ultimately, NFTs will not only connect the virtual and real worlds but will also encourage creation and investment. Artists can become collectors and experience a truly interactive - and fun - world.

Not everybody can visit an art gallery or a concert. It’s too far away, the budget isn’t there, or just not interested. With NFT, you can visit your favorite performance location, museum, concert hall, etc., anywhere, anytime and feel it just as if you’re standing in these places right now. You can listen to your favorite artists or buy a digital ticket to a concert and buy a digital membership card to a museum at a later time.

The role of NFTs in the metaverse will be indispensable. They will be used prominently in digital and physical environments, with implications for merchants and users within the virtual world. It will lead to a new market economy based on a valuable, persistent asset.

Companies involved in the metaverse 🎨

Decentraland ($MANA) 🌉

If you haven’t heard about Decentraland yet, it is a decentralized VR world. The user-owned metaverse started operations fully in 2020. Users can acquire parcels of land on the blockchain and build VR experiences on them. Since each parcel of land has its own digital identity on the blockchain, users can easily prove land ownership. For developers, Decentraland offers some unique advantages over traditional VR development. Because users can purchase land with ERC721 non-fungible tokens (NFTs), individual parcels of land can be priced differently. Also, users can own many parcels of land on the platform, opening up more opportunities for users to monetize their content.

Additionally, there is an ERC-20 called MANA. This token is fungible and can be used or “burned” to purchase the LAND. MANA also gives users the voting rights to make governing decisions.

Decentraland is quite promising and could become a viable alternative for online games. It also offers a rich world to explore and get lost in, which remains very rare among virtual worlds.

Sandbox VR ($SAND) 🥽

Imagine playing your favorite game or just hanging out with your friends in a new way, being immersed in an entirely different reality, where your body is free to move around.

Sandbox is a Virtual Reality platform that allows users to create and experience their own virtual worlds. Users can buy, sell, rent, or simply view others’ 3D digital creations. Outsiders are allowed to access these virtual reality realms through Sandbox’s APIs or with its proprietary Sandbox Viewer.

Sandbox is one of the most immersive and engaging forms of entertainment around. The platform places users and put them, in real life, inside incredible virtual worlds. They interact with other people. They can touch and feel.

While the sandbox may not bring about the end of traditional screen-based gaming, it will lead to games that are more personalized and more immersive, offering players real-world extras. It remains to be seen whether sandbox technology will be widely adopted by game developers, but if early results are any indication, virtual reality gaming is headed for a big future.

What are the uses of NFTs 👩‍🎨🤑

Before NFTs, many digital artists spent weeks creating content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter while gaining almost nothing in return.

Gone are the days when digital artists enjoyed no more than likes, comments, and shares for their work. Now, we know artists can earn appreciable financial rewards for their pieces. NFT has added that crucial element of scarcity to art pieces, changing how we all perceive art.

NFT artists sell their pieces after signing up in marketplaces. Think of a marketplace like eBay, where you can list your work for auction. The highest bidder decides the value of your work. It is thrilling to see traditional auction houses joining the train. After Christie’s artist, Beeple, made that groundbreaking NFT sale, the rival auction house, Sotheby, quickly announced a partnership with an NFT artist, Pack, to also enjoy the benefits of NFT.

Tickets 🎫

If a ticket is produced as a non-fungible token, it will be impossible to change, steal, sell, or use a fake ticket. The ticket is already linked on a blockchain which is an immutable and transparent ledger.

Fashion 👗

If designers and consumers alike can see a product’s digital history, it could greatly address several concerns in the fashion industry. Imagine if you could scan a designer jacket to see not only its warranty status but where the materials came from, where it was made, and what other customers thought about it. Transparency has been the mantra of many companies for some time now, and NFTs might be one way to take that idea into the future.

Collectibles 🖼

Since NFTs can be locked to a particular owner, they can be used to verify the acquisition of a digital souvenir. This physical item is inherently valuable but with little or no perceived worth, as well as a complicated provenance. In this scenario, an NFT acts as a kind of digital passport for a particular entity, documenting all the properties associated with the entity and providing verification of its legitimacy.

Gaming 🎮

Can this list be complete without mentioning gaming? With NFTs, games are more than games. You can enjoy rewards while spending your time playing games. By playing regularly, you may earn unique tokens which will be useful outside the game.

Which companies use NFTs? 🤔💭

NFTs are not yet mainstream. However, it is only a matter of time before they become so. From small firms to larger corporations, everyone is catching the NFT vibe and positioning themselves for the future.

• Nike ($NKE) is now producing digital replicas of sneakers and uploading them in the virtual lockers of customers who purchase their products.
• NBA released NBA Top shot where fans can purchase moments from their favorite players, teams, or matches
• In February, Taco Bell created a series of NFT gifts and sold them off in 15 minutes.
• Coca-Cola ($KO) auctioned on OpenSeas and created unique digitally wearable delivery jackets in July.
• Warner Bros are planning to release music NFTs.

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