What Are NFTs?

An NFT is a unique digital token that exists on a blockchain. They can represent one-of-a-kind items such as digital art, collectibles, music, videos, real estate, or in-game items. Any real world asset can be "tokenized" so it can be bought, sold, and displayed on a blockchain.

NFTs are secured on the blockchain, meaning they have strong ownership rights, easy tradability, and open transaction history. Their uniqueness and durability drives the appeal of NFTs and has created vibrant market for them.

Common Uses for NFTs

Art: Artists can create their work as an NFT. The NFT is essentially a certificate of authenticity on the blockchain that makes it easy to verify ownership and establish history of the art. NFTs provide artists novel ways to monetize their work and engage with their audience. Royalties can even be built directly into NFTs, which give artists a small percentage of the payment anytime the NFT is traded.

Media: NFTs can represent to music, movies, or books that can be traded freely on the blockchain. Because they are immutable their content cannot be altered or censored. Cardano has many innovative media projects like book.io, NEWM, and Nucast.

Gaming: NFTs have also found their way into the world of gaming. Virtual items, unique characters, and in-game assets can be tokenized as NFTs, granting players true ownership and the ability to trade digital possessions for real profits. This has added a new layer of value and excitement to the gaming experience.

Real World Assets: Real-world assets are NFTs that represent physical and traditional financial assets like commodities, equities, bonds, real estate, metals, and even intellectual property. Ownership rights are handled by the blockchain, which makes the RWA market more liquid, transparent, and accessible than before.

Access: NFTs can be used to determine which users are allowed to use a application. They can represent a subscription or access token.