A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital asset that is stored on a blockchain. NFTs can represent digital or real-world items, such as artwork, collectibles, and in-game items.
NFTs are created using a process called minting. When an NFT is minted, it is assigned a unique identifier and is stored on the blockchain. This makes it impossible to counterfeit or duplicate.
NFTs can be bought and sold on online marketplaces. The price of an NFT is determined by supply and demand. Some NFTs have sold for millions of dollars.
NFTs are still a new technology, and their potential applications are still being explored. However, they have the potential to revolutionize the way we own and interact with digital assets.
Here are some of the benefits of using NFTs:
- Uniqueness: NFTs are unique digital assets, which means that they cannot be replaced or copied. This makes them ideal for representing digital items such as artwork, collectibles, and in-game items.
- Transparency: NFTs are stored on the blockchain, which is a public ledger that records all transactions. This makes it possible to track the ownership history of an NFT, which can help to prevent fraud and counterfeiting.
- Scalability: The blockchain is a scalable technology, which means that it can be used to track a large number of transactions. This makes it possible to use NFTs to represent a wide variety of digital assets.
Here are some of the challenges of using NFTs:
- High fees: The cost of minting and transferring NFTs can be high. This is because the blockchain is a decentralized network, which means that there is no central authority to regulate fees.
- Environmental impact: The mining process used to create new blocks on the blockchain consumes a significant amount of energy. This has led to concerns about the environmental impact of NFTs.
- Regulation: The legal status of NFTs is still unclear. This could make it difficult for businesses to adopt NFTs and could also make it difficult for investors to protect their rights.
Overall, NFTs are a promising new technology with the potential to revolutionize the way we own and interact with digital assets. However, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed before NFTs can reach their full potential.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) seem to be everywhere these days. From art and music to tacos and toilet paper, these digital assets are selling like 17th-century exotic Dutch tulips—some for millions of dollars.
But are NFTs worth the money—or the hype? Some experts say they’re a bubble poised to pop, like the dot-com craze or Beanie Babies. Others believe NFTs are here to stay, and that they will change investing forever.
What Is an NFT?
An NFT is a digital asset that can come in the form of art, music, in-game items, videos, and more. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.
Although they’ve been around since 2014, NFTs are gaining notoriety now because they are becoming an increasingly popular way to buy and sell digital artwork. The market for NFTs was worth a staggering $41 billion in 2021 alone, an amount that is approaching the total value of the entire global fine art market.
NFTs are also generally one of a kind, or at least one of a very limited run, and have unique identifying codes. “Essentially, NFTs create digital scarcity,” says Arry Yu, chair of the Washington Technology Industry Association Cascadia Blockchain Council and managing director of Yellow Umbrella Ventures.
This stands in stark contrast to most digital creations, which are almost always infinite in supply. Hypothetically, cutting off the supply should raise the value of a given asset, assuming it’s in demand.
But many NFTs, at least in these early days, have been digital creations that already exist in some form elsewhere, like iconic video clips from NBA games or securitized versions of digital art that’s already floating around on Instagram.
Famous digital artist Mike Winklemann, better known as “Beeple,” crafted a composite of 5,000 daily drawings to create perhaps the most famous NFT of 2021, “EVERYDAYS: The First 5000 Days,” which sold at Christie’s for a record-breaking $69.3 million.
Anyone can view the individual images—or even the entire collage of images online for free. So why are people willing to spend millions on something they could easily screenshot or download?
Because an NFT allows the buyer to own the original item. Not only that, it contains built-in authentication, which serves as proof of ownership. Collectors value those “digital bragging rights” almost more than the item itself.
How Is an NFT Different from Cryptocurrency?
NFT stands for non-fungible token. It’s generally built using the same kind of programming as cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, but that’s where the similarity ends.
Physical money and cryptocurrencies are “fungible,” meaning they can be traded or exchanged for one another. They’re also equal in value—one dollar is always worth another dollar; one Bitcoin is always equal to another Bitcoin. Crypto’s fungibility makes it a trusted means of conducting transactions on the blockchain.
NFTs are different. Each has a digital signature that makes it impossible for NFTs to be exchanged for or equal to one another (hence, non-fungible). One NBA Top Shot clip, for example, is not equal to EVERYDAYS simply because they’re both NFTs. (One NBA Top Shot clip isn’t even necessarily equal to another NBA Top Shot clip, for that matter.)
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How Does an NFT Work?
NFTs exist on a blockchain, which is a distributed public ledger that records transactions. You’re probably most familiar with blockchain as the underlying process that makes cryptocurrencies possible.
Specifically, NFTs are typically held on the Ethereum blockchain, although other blockchains support them as well.
An NFT is created, or “minted” from digital objects that represent both tangible and intangible items, including:
- Grafic art
- GIFs
- Videos and sports highlights
- Collectibles
- Virtual avatars and video game skins
- Designer sneakers
- Music
Even tweets count. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sold his first ever tweet as an NFT for more than $2.9 million.
Essentially, NFTs are like physical collector’s items, only digital. So instead of getting an actual oil painting to hang on the wall, the buyer gets a digital file instead.
They also get exclusive ownership rights. NFTs can have only one owner at a time, and their use of blockchain technology makes it easy to verify ownership and transfer tokens between owners. The creator can also store specific information in an NFT’s metadata. For instance, artists can sign their artwork by including their signature in the file.
What Are NFTs Used For?
Blockchain technology and NFTs afford artists and content creators a unique opportunity to monetize their wares. For example, artists no longer have to rely on galleries or auction houses to sell their art. Instead, the artist can sell it directly to the consumer as an NFT, which also lets them keep more of the profits. In addition, artists can program in royalties so they’ll receive a percentage of sales whenever their art is sold to a new owner. This is an attractive feature as artists generally do not receive future proceeds after their art is first sold.
Art isn’t the only way to make money with NFTs. Brands like Charmin and Taco Bell have auctioned off themed NFT art to raise funds for charity. Charmin dubbed its offering “NFTP” (non-fungible toilet paper), and Taco Bell’s NFT art sold out in minutes, with the highest bids coming in at 1.5 wrapped ether (WETH)—equal to $3,723.83 at time of writing.
Nyan Cat, a 2011-era GIF of a cat with a pop-tart body, sold for nearly $600,000 in February. And NBA Top Shot generated more than $500 million in sales as of late March. A single LeBron James highlight NFT fetched more than $200,000.
Even celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Lindsay Lohan are jumping on the NFT bandwagon, releasing unique memories, artwork and moments as securitized NFTs.
How to Buy NFTs
If you’re keen to start your own NFT collection, you’ll need to acquire some key items:
First, you’ll need to get a digital wallet that allows you to store NFTs and cryptocurrencies. You’ll likely need to purchase some cryptocurrency, like Ether, depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts. You can buy crypto using a credit card on platforms like Coinbase, Kraken, eToro and even PayPal and Robinhood now. You’ll then be able to move it from the exchange to your wallet of choice.
You’ll want to keep fees in mind as you research options. Most exchanges charge at least a percentage of your transaction when you buy crypto.
Popular NFT Marketplaces
Once you’ve got your wallet set up and funded, there’s no shortage of NFT sites to shop. Currently, the largest NFT marketplaces are:
• OpenSea.io: This peer-to-peer platform bills itself a purveyor of “rare digital items and collectibles.” To get started, all you need to do is create an account to browse NFT collections. You can also sort pieces by sales volume to discover new artists.
• Rarible: Similar to OpenSea, Rarible is a democratic, open marketplace that allows artists and creators to issue and sell NFTs. RARI tokens issued on the platform enable holders to weigh in on features like fees and community rules.
• Foundation: Here, artists must receive “upvotes” or an invitation from fellow creators to post their art. The community’s exclusivity and cost of entry—artists must also purchase “gas” to mint NFTs—means it may boast higher-caliber artwork. For instance, Nyan Cat creator Chris Torres sold the NFT on the Foundation platform. It may also mean higher prices — not necessarily a bad thing for artists and collectors seeking to capitalize, assuming the demand for NFTs remains at current levels, or even increases over time.
Although these platforms and others are host to thousands of NFT creators and collectors, be sure you do your research carefully before buying. Some artists have fallen victim to impersonators who have listed and sold their work without their permission.
In addition, the verification processes for creators and NFT listings aren’t consistent across platforms — some are more stringent than others. OpenSea and Rarible, for example, do not require owner verification for NFT listings. Buyer protections appear to be sparse at best, so when shopping for NFTs, it may be best to keep the old adage “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware) in mind.
Should You Buy NFTs?
Just because you can buy NFTs, does that mean you should? It depends, Yu says.
“NFTs are risky because their future is uncertain, and we don’t yet have a lot of history to judge their performance,” she notes. “Since NFTs are so new, it may be worth investing small amounts to try it out for now.”
In other words, investing in NFTs is a largely personal decision. If you have money to spare, it may be worth considering, especially if a piece holds meaning for you.
But keep in mind, an NFT’s value is based entirely on what someone else is willing to pay for it. Therefore, demand will drive the price rather than fundamental, technical or economic indicators, which typically influence stock prices and at least generally form the basis for investor demand.
All this means, an NFT may resale for less than you paid for it. Or you may not be able to resell it at all if no one wants it.
NFTs are also subject to capital gains taxes—just like when you sell stocks at a profit. Since they’re considered collectibles, however, they may not receive the preferential long-term capital gains rates stocks do and may even be taxed at a higher collectibles tax rate, though the IRS has not yet ruled what NFTs are considered for tax purposes. Bear in mind, the cryptocurrencies used to purchase the NFT may also be taxed if they’ve increased in value since you bought them, meaning you may want to check in with a tax professional when considering adding NFTs to your portfolio.
That said, approach NFTs just like you would any investment: Do your research, understand the risks—including that you might lose all of your investing dollars—and if you decide to take the plunge, proceed with a healthy dose of caution.
History of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
NFTs were created long before they became popular in the mainstream. Reportedly, the first NFT sold was “Quantum,” designed and tokenized by Kevin McKoy in 2014 on one blockchain (Namecoin), then minted and sold in 2021 on Ethereum.1
NFTs are built following the ERC-721 (Ethereum Request for Comment #721) standard, which dictates how ownership is transferred, methods for confirming transactions, and how applications handle safe transfers (among other requirements).2 The ERC-1155 standard, approved six months after ERC-721, improves upon ERC-721 by batching multiple non-fungible tokens into a single contract, reducing transaction costs.3
$69 million
In early March 2021, a group of NFTs by digital artist Beeple sold for over $69 million. The sale set a precedent and record for the most expensive digital art sold at the time. The artwork was a collage comprised of Beeple’s first 5,000 days of work.4
How NFTs Work
NFTs are created through a process called minting, in which the information of the NFT is recorded on a blockchain. At a high level, the minting process entails a new block being created, NFT information being validated by a validator, and the block being closed. This minting process often entails incorporating smart contracts that assign ownership and manage the transferability of the NFT.
As tokens are minted, they are assigned a unique identifier directly linked to one blockchain address. Each token has an owner, and the ownership information (i.e., the address in which the minted token resides) is publicly available. Even if 5,000 NFTs of the same exact item are minted (similar to general admission tickets to a movie), each token has a unique identifier and can be distinguished from the others.
Blockchain and Fungibility
Like physical money, cryptocurrencies are usually fungible from a financial perspective, meaning that they can be traded or exchanged, one for another. For example, one bitcoin is always equal in value to another bitcoin on a given exchange, similar to how every dollar bill of U.S. currency has an implicit exchange value of $1. This fungibility characteristic makes cryptocurrencies suitable as a secure medium of transaction in the digital economy.5
For this reason, NFTs shift the crypto paradigm by making each token unique and irreplaceable, making it impossible for one non-fungible token to be “equal” to another. They are digital representations of assets and have been likened to digital passports because each token contains a unique, non-transferable identity to distinguish it from other tokens. They are also extensible, meaning you can combine one NFT with another to create a third, unique NFT.
Examples of NFTs
Perhaps the most famous use case for NFTs is that of cryptokitties. Launched in November 2017, cryptokitties are digital representations of cats with unique identifications on Ethereum’s blockchain. Each kitty is unique and has a different price. They “reproduce” among themselves and create new offspring with other attributes and valuations compared to their “parents.”
Within a few short weeks of their launch, cryptokitties racked up a fan base that spent $20 million worth of ether to purchase, feed, and nurture them. Some enthusiasts even spent upward of $100,000 on the effort.6 More recently, the Bored Ape Yacht Club has garnered controversial attention for its high prices, celebrity following, and high-profile thefts of some of its 10,000 NFTs.78
Much of the earlier market for NFTs was centered around digital art and collectibles, but it has evolved into much more. For instance, the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea has several NFT categories:
- Photography: Photographers can tokenize their work and offer total or partial ownership. For example, OpenSea user erubes1 has an “Ocean Intersection” collection of beautiful ocean and surfing photos with several sales and owners.9
- Sports: Collections of digital art based on celebrities and sports personalities.
- Trading cards: Tokenized digital trading cards. Some are collectibles, while others can be traded in video games.
- Utility: NFTs that can represent membership or unlock benefits.
- Virtual worlds: VIrtual world NFTs grant you ownership of anything from avatar wearables to digital property.
- Art: A generalized category of NFTs that includes everything from pixel to abstract art
- Collectibles: Bored Ape Yacht Club, Crypto Punks, and Pudgy Panda are some examples of NFTs in this category
- Domain names: NFTs that represent ownership of domain names for your website(s)
- Music: Artists can tokenize their music, granting buyers the rights the artist wants them to have
Benefits of Non-Fungible Tokens
Perhaps, the most apparent benefit of NFTs is market efficiency. Tokenizing a physical asset can streamline sales processes and remove intermediaries. NFTs representing digital or physical artwork on a blockchain can eliminate the need for agents and allow sellers to connect directly with their target audiences (assuming the artists know how to host their NFTs securely).
Investing
NFTs can also be used to streamline investing. For example, consulting firm Ernst & Young has already developed an NFT solution for one of its fine wine investors—by storing wine in a secure environment and using NFTs to protect provenance.
Real estate can also be tokenized—a property could be parceled into multiple sections, each containing different characteristics. For example, one of the sections might be on a lakeside, while another is closer to the forest. Depending on its features, each piece of land could be unique, priced differently, and represented by an NFT. Real estate trading, a complex and bureaucratic affair, could then be simplified by incorporating relevant metadata into a unique NFT associated with only the corresponding portion of the property.
NFTs can represent ownership in a business, much like stocks—in fact, stock ownership is already tracked via ledgers that contain information such as the stockholder’s name, date of issuance, certificate number, and the number of shares. A blockchain is a distributed and secured ledger, so issuing NFTs to represent shares serves the same purpose as issuing stocks. The main advantage to using NFTs and blockchain instead of a stock ledger is that smart contracts can automate ownership transferral—once an NFT share is sold, the blockchain can take care of everything else.
Security
Non-fungible tokens are also very useful in identity security. For example, personal information stored on an immutable blockchain cannot be accessed, stolen, or used by anyone that doesn’t have the keys.
NFTs can also democratize investing by fractionalizing physical assets like real estate. It is much easier to divide a digital real estate asset among multiple owners than a physical one. That tokenization ethic need not be constrained to real estate; it can extend to other assets, such as artwork. Thus, a painting need not always have a single owner. Instead, multiple people can purchase a share of it, transferring ownership of a fraction of the physical painting to them. Such arrangements could increase its worth and revenues because more people can purchase parts of expensive art than those who can buy entire pieces.
How Can I Buy NFTs?
Many NFTs can only be purchased with ether (ETH), so owning some of this cryptocurrency—and storing it in a digital wallet—is usually the first step. You can purchase NFTs via any of the online NFT marketplaces, including OpenSea, Rarible, and SuperRare.
Are NFTs Safe?
Non-fungible tokens, which use blockchain technology like cryptocurrency, are generally impossible to hack. However, the weak link in all blockchains is the key to your NFT. The software that stores the keys can be hacked, and the devices you hold the keys on can be lost or destroyed—so the blockchain mantra “not your keys, not your coin” applies to NFTs as well as cryptocurrency. NFTs are safe as long as your keys are properly secured.
What Does Non-Fungible Mean?
Fungibility describes the interchangeability of goods. For example, say you had three notes with identical smiley faces drawn on them. When you tokenize one of them, that note becomes distinguishable from the others—it is non-fungible. The other two notes are indistinguishable, so they can each take the place of the other.
Non-fungible tokens are an evolution of the relatively simple concept of cryptocurrencies. Modern finance systems consist of sophisticated trading and loan systems for different asset types, from real estate to lending contracts to artwork. By enabling digital representations of assets, NFTs are a step forward in the reinvention of this infrastructure.
To be sure, the idea of digital representations of physical assets is not novel, nor is the use of unique identification. However, when these concepts are combined with the benefits of a tamper-resistant blockchain with smart contracts and automation, they become a potent force for change.
Investing in cryptocurrencies and other Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation by Investopedia or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies or other ICOs. Since each individual’s situation is unique, a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions. Investopedia makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.