You’ve probably heard a ton of buzz online about the NFT craze, but what really is an NFT? Going by the name ‘non-fungible tokens,’ NFTs have taken the public by storm, for better or worse. A form of digital art - or “expensive screenshots” - NFTs are a form of ownership unique to the blockchain that allow purchasers of these non-fungible tokens to claim a digital photo or video as their own. Due to the immutable nature of the blockchain, once someone buys an NFT, it can be seen as theirs forever - or at least until they sell it. NFTs have provided a new medium for artists to monetize their work, as the decentralized nature of the whole concept has led to many making life changing money through sales of their work. Where traditional art pieces can make it difficult to determine an owner, blockchains make it easy. Once someone has bought an NFT, the transaction lives forever on the blockchain. No one can make any adjustments to it, and a digital good bought is the same as a physical one, just easier to manage and hold ownership over. While NFT art has been catching most of the media’s attention, some have suggested NFTs could replace items in video games. Decentraland and The Sandbox are two metaverse blockchain games that offer players in-game NFT items - a novel idea for a group of gamers that have long been controlled by greedy corporations. There has been a ton of conversation surrounding NFTs, and it doesn’t seem like they’re going anywhere anytime soon. Keep your eye on the space, as a ton of exciting developments are happening everyday.
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