At the beginning of 2022, NFT became one of the most discussed topics. The number of news informing that NFT is sold at a very high price has sparked people's interest.
Some examples of well-selling NFTs are NFTs in the form of digital art called "Everydays: The First 5,000 Days" by American artist Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple. The digital work was sold at 69.3 million US dollars.
Another example of NFT sold at a high price is the first tweet of the former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, which sold for around 2.3 million US dollars.
So what exactly is NFT? Please see our explanation below for a clearer understanding.
{jistoc} $title={Table of Contents}
What is NFT?
NFT, also known as Non-Fungible Token, is a unique token that cannot be replicated or duplicated. In economics, a fungible asset is something that can be easily exchanged, for example, money. A ₦1,000 banknote can be exchanged for two ₦500 banknotes because the value remains the same.
Meanwhile, a non-fungible asset cannot be exchanged because the object or goods have a unique value that cannot be exchanged for something else. An example is the unique original Monalisa painting. You may be able to take a photo of the painting and then print it, but there will still only be one original Monalisa painting.
So, what is NFT? NFTs are the only digital assets that can be bought and sold like any other property. It's just that NFT does not have a tangible form because it is available in digital form. The word "token" in the NFT is considered a certificate of ownership for the asset.
How Does NFT Work?
Understanding how NFT works will help you better understand what NFT is. Digital works, as we all know, are very easy to duplicate. Digital artwork can be "tokenized" using this NFT to create digital ownership certificates that can be bought or sold.
Like cryptocurrencies, all digital asset ownership records are stored on a shared ledger known as the blockchain. If you're unfamiliar with blockchain, it's a technology that functions as a digital data storage system and is connected via cryptography. The records cannot be falsified because thousands of computers worldwide maintain the blockchain ledger.
NFT Marketplace Examples
Once you know what NFT is and how it works, you may be interested in buying or selling NFT digital assets. Here we provide some examples of popular NFT marketplaces.
1. OpenSea
If you've done any research on NFT before, you would have probably heard of the OpenSea marketplace. OpenSea calls itself the world's first and largest NFT marketplace. OpenSea is a well-known NFT marketplace that offers a wide range of digital assets on its platform.
You can register on this platform for free to see the available offers. OpenSea can also be used by artists and creators who want to create and sell their own NFT. This NFT marketplace is supported by 150 different payment tokens.
2. Axie Marketplace
The next NFT marketplace is called Axie Marketplace. Axie Marketplace is an online store that sells and buys Axie Infinity NFT game items.
Axies are mythical creatures that can be purchased and trained. In this Axie Marketplace, you can buy new Axies as NFTs that can be used in-game.
3. Rarible
Like OpenSea, Rarible is also an NFT marketplace that sells various types of NFT. Creators can use Rarible to "print" new NFTs and sell them here. If you want to buy NFT on the Rarible marketplace, you can use various crypto wallets to make transactions. Some of them are MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and WalletConnect.
4. Foundation.app
Foundation.app is an NFT marketplace developed with a simple design. Since its market launch in early 2021, Foundation has sold more than 100 million US dollars of NFT. If you're looking for a quick and easy way to start creating your own NFT, then Foundation can be the perfect solution.
5. Nifty Gateway
Nifty Gateway is an NFT marketplace that has been used by several popular digital artists such as Beeple. This platform has been around since 2018 and is an NFT marketplace sponsored by Gemini crypto exchange.
You need to know that Nifty Gateway has a special team that will thoroughly vet every artist who prints and publishes NFT on its platform. In this way, the Nifty Gateway platform can continue to provide collectors with high-quality digital collections.
6. SuperRare
Just like Nifty Gateway, SuperRare was launched for the first time in 2018. Here, you can find various digital assets such as videos and 3D images. To purchase these digital works, collectors can use the Ethereum blockchain platform.
Conclusion
With the explanation provided above, you should better understand what NFT is. With the advancement of technology, NFT has emerged as a solution that can aid in the legal ownership of an object.
As we all know, digital works are very easy to duplicate, but NFT can be used to prove the authenticity of digital assets in the same way blockchain ensures that one bitcoin is only owned by one person.