The NFT trade has been ripping up the market in recent years as it flourished into a multibillion industry in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Within three years, the NFT industry has grown tenfold and has made waves all over the globe with record sale after record sale that saw the biggest NFT sale in history.

This new-age gold rush has empowered collectors and artists all over the world and opened opportunities that culminated in transactions that value in the millions. Among such eye-widening transactions in this modern treasure hunt is the Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann’s NFT artwork for the ages that sold for over $69.3 million, the Jack Dorsey ancient autographed tweet -- his first-ever -- that sold for nearly three million dollars, and the six-million dollar Grimes collection that broke the internet.

Some of these modern-day treasures have even reached a point where they even outvalue one of Claude Monet’s finest, the Nympheas. In 2014, the impressionist painting sold for $44 million; $15 million less than the digital Beeple’s Obra Maestra. This extraordinary rise in value is rooted in the ability of crypto technology to create bonafide NFT assets that allow them to become provably true and original.

Despite one historic sale after the next, majority of people around the globe were found to be unaware of how NFTs work. NFTs have had a long history of transformative events, innovative metamorphosis -- not to mention the involvement of memes -- and a fair share of ups and downs.

In the spirit of information, awareness, and the education of those interested but have no idea where to start, let the question be asked: What is an NFT?

What is an NFT?

What is an NFT? An NFT, or a non-fungible token, is a unique or and irreplaceable asset that cannot be duplicated nor be given true copies through the magic of blockchain technology. How so? That’ll be given a more detailed explanation in just a bit. But for now, think about money. A Benjamin, or a 100-dollar-bill, can be replaced with just about any other hundred-dollar bill, yet you get the same value from a different minted copy. The same can’t be said about NFTs, which is more like a rare and autographed LeBron James rookie card. Get it for another autographed LeBron James card, or a different card entirely like William Shatner’s NFT card collectibles and it’s still not the same value.

For the most part, as NFTs are powered by the same technology that enables cryptocurrency, NFTs are assets that are available through digital channels. As NFTs exist on blockchains, the way it works is through a distributed public ledger that records the history of transactions and sales. Admittedly, they work similarly to cryptocurrencies. Blockchain, of course, is the underlying process that makes both concepts possible.

NFTs are created, or “minted,” in layman’s terms, from objects uploaded the digital space that can be both tangible and intangible objects that may range from artwork, GIFs, videos and highlights, collector’s items, virtual avatars, video game skins, designer sneakers, music, and everything that can be conceived and uploaded in the digital space.

The Emergence of Blockchain

There are certain times in human society when normal life undergoes drastic changes. These are the times when innovations emerge and humanity pivots for survival. Societies get plunged into financial crises, the world is plagued by pandemics, and calamities influence economic growth. 

In one such circumstance, as the US was plunged into a severe financial crisis, blockchain was conceived amidst the depression. The meteoric rise of NFTs can be traced back to blockchain technology.

Forbes described this innovation as “the engine, or system, in which all cryptocurrencies and NFT’s are built on.” Blockchain is what allows NFTs to record all transactions in a way that makes it painstaking (if not impossible) to alter, breach, or even hack the mechanisms in place. 

Blockchain also benefits from the element of decentralization. This feature allows the relay of ownership, control, and decision-making alterations from a centralized individual, organization, group, or entity to a distributed network that may or may not involve groups of or just individuals. This game-changing technology allows the revolutionary feature to demand transparency, accountability, and user-centric control.

The original goal of blockchain technology is to create a financial system that would take power off the hands of just a few people who made society-altering decisions behind a closed door. In essence, blockchain was created to reconfigure a system designed for a few and into a mechanism that will give control to all who invest and can be monitored.

Bitcoin, the first revolutionary blockchain was also the first global currency. This currency can be exchanged from one country to the next without the burden of exchange rates. Bitcoin has become a significant tool in globalization as it connects nations across the globe using its universal currency. 

Similar to how a country’s currency work, acquiring cryptocurrency is processed in the same way as exchanging a country’s local banknote for foreign money. The primary difference is that instead of accessing the online bank portals or the physical bank of a particular financial institution, a user uses the internet to enter Coinbase, Robinhood, or Metamask.

People often hesitate to patronize such digitally-centered services because of hacking and possible breaches. However, one noteworthy piece of information is that traditional banks also operate digitally at some capacity and similarly run the risk for hacks and breaches.

The primary benefit of opting for a bank is insurance. Blockchains are, of course, more secure by a ridiculously wide margin. The security system that allows and cryptocurrency and NFT to become secure in the blockchain is its ability to track every single touchpoint in which currency, data, and content is moved. This means that any would-be hacker can and will be tracked with ease -- resulting in efficient and cutting-edge security.

Ethereum, with its innovations, was developed a few years after Bitcoin. Adding a “smart contract” feature for versatility, Ethereum presented itself as the next step in the blockchain evolution. As a cryptocurrency itself and a pioneer to smart contracts feature, Ethereum was able to provide a flexible platform that allows developers to program packets of code that can be connected to digital assets. This connection will confirm the asset as unique, trackable, and can be validated.

These “smart contracts” can be connected to any digital assets. This contract is unhackable, unbreachable, and cannot be copied. All existing NFT’s, after all, are equipped with attached smart contracts. NFTs, then, are, simply put, assets that can be purchased using cryptocurrency, which in most cases are Ethereum. To make an apt analogy, cryptocurrencies are modern money and NFTs are the products.

The First NFT

Through the wonder-making blockchain technology with its secure system, trackable ledgers, and smart contracts, foundations have finally been laid out for the first NFT.

On a budding spring day of May 3, 2014, digital artist, Kevin McCoy, minted the first recorded  NFT in history and entitled it “Quantum.” The artwork aptly named Quantum is a slightly pixelated octagon animated in a color-filled hypnotic vivacity. Seven years later, on November 28, 2021, the unique digital artwork, the first of its kind, sold for over $1.4 million in a Sotheby auction.

This is where this technological phenomenon all started. The first of such digital assets and the man who created the oldest recorded NFT ever, Kevin McCoy, minted his non-fungible token long before the crypto art market exploded.

Early NFTs

When the Ethereum blockchain broke ground in 2014 and introduced its platform and features on July 30, 2015, the established yet raw NFT practices underwent a reinvigoration. Using its versatile functionality and the power of its smart contracts, the Ethereum blockchain unveiled standardized criteria for tokens that opened creation for developers. Users may consider these standards to be the ‘subsidiary’ of the smart contract standard. For Ethereum or in the context of today, the blockchain that may support smart contracts, this token standard is what usually dictates the guidelines that would explain the creation, issuance, and deployment of newly-minted tokens. All of which, of course, is grounded upon the underlying blockchain.

The NFT, typically released under the Ethereum Network as ERC721 tokens, are crafted in minted to embed digital ownership that can be validated and provably scarce and original. This, in turn, make every NFT represent a unique item or allows only a sparse number of limited editions of certain assets. NFTs institute a proof of rarity of collectibles that can be a wide variety of things like digital artwork, music, poems, videos, books, and even -- in the case of Jack Dorsey and his three-million-dollar tweet -- a Twitter post.

Colored Coins

The idea of non-fungible tokens has been around since the early 2010s. In December 2012, “Colored Coins” set forces into motion that will allow NFTs to evolve into something greater and wider -- the multi-billion industry it is today. The creator of Ethereum himself, Vitalik Buterin, who also had a hand in the creation of the Bitcoin blockchain, spearheaded the project himself. The idea was inspired by the acquisition of real-world assets; like real estate but in the blockchain.

At the time, Bitcoin’s script and its language has inadequacies that would not allow its blockchain to sustain the application of the vision. Still, the idea that constituted Colored Coins blazed the trail for experimentation that would ultimately lead the NFT industry to its future.

Counterparty

Nobody knew at the time that the future was just a decade into the history of NFTs. Just a couple of years later, in 2014, the inception of Counterparty blossomed into fruition. Through the Bitcoin blockchain, a peer-to-peer financial platform/open-source online protocol was built, changing the landscape of the NFT industry. The innovation included numerous projects released through its assets like a card and meme trading. A year later, game creators Spells of Genesis made history by becoming the first to issue in-game assets through the blockchain using Counterparty. A year later, in 2016, memes were finally issued as collectibles with the ever-familiar green frogs the internet knows as “Rare Pepes”

It included several projects with its assets, including card/meme trading. In 2015, the Spells of Genesis game creators became the first to issue in-game assets on a blockchain via Counterparty. By October 2016, memes issued as collectibles were issued with the recognizable green frog “Rare Pepes” on Counterparty.

Counterparty: Trading Cards and Spells of Genesis

Counterparty pioneers Robert Dermody, Adam Krellenstein, and Evan Wagner established and conceived the platform in 2014. Counterparty enabled and empowered asset and content creation in a way that also allowed a decentralized exchange. This mechanism provided an opportunity for users to conceptualize their exchangeable currencies. The platform was rife with ideas and possibilities, even opening the possibility for meme and card trading without worries of counterfeits or breaches.

Counterparty also launched a collaboration with the core creators of Spells of Genesis in April 2015. This collaboration with the Spells of Genesis game creators not only resulted in pioneering the issuing of in-game assets onto a blockchain via Counterparty but it also among the first instances where there was an opportunity to launch an ICO. These creators were huge contributors to funding the progression of the Counterparty platform through the introduction of their original in-game currency that they called BitCrystals.

As the Counterparty platform continued to evolve, more and more innovations are developed through its state-of-the-art technology. In August of 2016, the emergence of different trends poured in one after the other. Counterparty synergized with the up-and-coming trading card game, Force of Will, a popular name in various communities at the time. Together launched their cards on the Counterparty platform. Behind Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic, Force of Will was the 4th ranked card game in North America according to sales volume. Their entrance into the ecosystem, where they had no prior blockchain or cryptocurrency experience before, signaled the value of putting such assets on a blockchain.

Counterparty and Memes

In 2016, as it has been in societies the world over, memes made their way into the blockchain. In October of that year, memes started to seep their way onto the Counterparty platform as well. Once it did, users began adding their assets to a specifically popular meme at the time called “Rare Pepes.” Rare Pepes, a frog usually colored green, are memes featuring a frog character that intensely captured the hearts of several fanbases at that time.

Pepe the Frog, who started as a character for comedy, gradually rose to internet sensation status as it easily became one of the most popular memes of its era. In the prevalence of the Ethereum blockchain that kicked off early 2017, without much surprise, Rare Pepes burst into the scene and ended circulating communities and circles there as well.

Jason Rosenstein, Founder of Portion, and Louis Parker administered the historic, first-ever live Rare Pepe auction. Generating widespread anticipation, the auction was held at the highly-awaited and inaugural Rare Digital Art Festival. Through this coveted event, CryptoArt was elevated to a higher level of acclaim with the Rare Pepe Wallet. It was also the first time that creators from all over the globe were given the chance to submit and market their artwork. It also marked the day when the first time digital art was given a definitive intrinsic value.

CryptoPunks

The world’s first-ever marketplace for rare digital artworks was launched in October of 2017. CryptoPunks, prominent figures of NFT lore, was the first break ground on such an institution. Through the Ethereum blockchain, CryptoPunk creators and put up 10,000 unique cartoon character collectibles that can be garnered by just about anyone with an Ethereum wallet.

In just a short period, all collectibles were fully collected, igniting a new trend in the marketplace that works as a secondary community and market that focuses on collectors that trade for increasing prices for each token. As the ERC721 had not reached full development yet at the time, the Cryptopunk NFTs were released jointly with ERC720.

CryptoKitties

One of the milestones that marked the onset of the official rise of NFTs was the prominence of CryptoKitties in 2017. A key point of NFT’s history is the ascension of CryptoKitties to viral status on that fateful year. This surge would eventually lead the collectibles to raise over $12.5 million in investment.

The main selling point that these CryptoKitties have is its feature that allows the actual collectible to be breedable. Yes, like pets in real life, CryptoKitties are known for being breedable that can produce a unique number each time and a 256-bit genome with DNAs to match.

CryptoKitties’ offspring can have a variety of unique and different traits. “Attributes” are the different combinations of patterns, mouth shapes, fur, eye shapes, base colors, accent colors, and many other varying things. These attributes are inherited by their digital feline offspring to create a new and unique CryptoKitty. During the hay day of the whole CryptoKitty buying, breeding, and trading cycle, these cartoon collectibles had attained about 5,000 ETH in volume. The most notable ones like Founder Cat #18 was sold for 253 ETH. This value reached up to $110,000 at the time of sale. This record-setting sale was later broken by the 600 ETH purchasing of “Dragon” for approximately $170,000 in September of 2018. 

At one point, CryptoKitties were causing 10% of the network traffic that existed on the Ethereum network. The rapid rise in CryptoKitties’ popularity caused this difficulty by causing an increase in pending transactions on the blockchain, becoming a threat to crowd other applications.

In response, miners of the Ethereum blockchain increased the gas limit to allow add data on every block and increase the number of transactions per second. To support the digital phenomenon, OpenSea and RareBits opened their doors to collectors, artists, and enthusiasts.

This renown and popularity, at some point, reached the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, a German Museum as the main example of blockchain products used to produce creative collectibles.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club

Among these rarefied air of legends, was The Bored Ape Yacht Club -- one of the finest collections in its own right.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club or BAYC, is another legendary collectible that recently just sold a collection of mutant apes worth over $96 million. BAYC, created and conceptualized by two true scholars of the arts who have studied Masters in Fine Arts, has become one of the most coveted collections in crypto art history. Founders “Gargamel,” has an MFA while “Gordon Goner” was enrolled in an MFA program but had to drop out for health reasons. With the help of more technically versed colleagues, “No Sass” and “Emperor Tomato Ketchup,” BAYC was born and achieved new heights for the NFT Market.

With the 10,000-strong NFT ape collection, BAYC raised two million dollars. Each ape sold for an average of $200. These days, each of these tokens, rare as they are, sells for $180,000. NBA superstar Stephen Curry joined the craze as well, buying one in August and making it his display picture on Twitter. The New Yorker could not have been more accurate in saying that “Ape avatars have taken over Twitter.”

NFT becomes Mainstream

In 2018, the NFT market underwent a drastic metamorphosis that solidified the industry as a juggernaut of a trade.

According to Earth Web, there are $10-$20 million worth of NFT sold in the blockchain every week. In 2020, NFT sales have reached over $250 million. Nonfungible, a website dedicated to NFT data, revealed that sales have surpassed $2 billion in 2021.

All eyes were on the NFT market after Beeple sold his digital artwork "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" for over $69 million in partnership with Christie’s. While in recent years, the general public has been associating NFT’s with the art world, there is more to the industry than just the artwork. In fact, the artwork market is only a far second in the money-making rankings of the NFT industry. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, art contributes to only 14% of NFT sales in Q2 of 2021.

NFT’s can be applied to all sorts of assets in different ways. Without the security of thriving blockchain technologies, even the best of digital art, or even data, can be stolen over and over again within a few clicks. This leaves the original artist or creator without the power to influence the possible theft of their work. This duplication concern also extends to digital art buyers. There would be no way for both buyer and seller to validate the original work.

Veteran fine arts specialist Michael John Peters, a professional working in the arts industry for ten years eloquently summarized the impact of NFTs in the profession he loves.

“It is very easy to fake certificates of authenticity or replicate art. Some paintings that are exact in size and composition sell for drastically different prices depending on if they have provenance (a tracked history) and certificate of authentication. For example, a Picasso painting that had its provenance and authentication sold for 2.2 million dollars. Whereas a different Picasso painting that is the same size, composition, and close to the same sale date, but without provenance sold only for 158 thousand dollars. NFT provides an iron-clad indestructible proof of ownership along with provenance that will last for eternity. In the future, every painting, both digital and physical, will have an NFT attached to it,”  Peters expounds.

Jessica Salomon, resource speaker on NFTs for a piece by Forbes, adds that “NFTs can be accessed by a global community from a range of global NFT marketplaces that take a minimal (or even no cut) which allows artists to create more wealth, unlike the standard exchange of art where galleries and agents take a significant share of the artists’ profits. Moreover, NFTs allow artists to connect directly with their customers as each purchase is documented on the blockchain and the recipient and creator is clear. This transparency spurs viral communities and fans; enabling real dialogues between creators and buyers on other social platforms. It has created remarkable opportunities for artists like pplpleasr who last year was jobless due to the pandemic and applying to every job she came across, while this year she is selling out of magazine covers and sharing stages with renowned artists like James Jean and Steve Aoki.”

Emily Yang, also known as “Pplpleasr,” a crypto artist, further explained that crypto art and NFTs changed her life.

“Not only because of the money and investing opportunities it exposed me to, but also because of a welcoming community of passionate people who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo," Yang stated.

At this point, it’s only a matter of time before NFTs become embedded in our society as it has an impact beyond just digital assets. Further, the biggest companies in the world acknowledge this by breaking ground on operations that will expand their infrastructure and operations building within this space.

Twitter, one of the biggest social media giants in the world, has started integrating NFTs into its system. Facebook, recently re-branding to Meta, is all hands on deck in building a metaverse. Nike, a stalwart in global sportswear, is creating an NFT verification system for shoes. Coinbase is nearly finished building its own NFT marketplace. Warner Bros, a name you can’t possibly be unfamiliar with, has already begun releasing Space Jam NFTs and is even exploring the possibility of releasing music NFTs.

NFTs Prosperity

The enthusiastic movements that drive crypto communities and were an essential part of its eventual ascension to mainstream popularity have been gradually gravitating towards the creative art field in recent years. This exodus eventually reached an inflection point on Valentines’ Day 2018 as artist Kevin Abosch collaborated with GIFTO for an auction for goodwill. This partnership facilitated a transaction worth over a million dollars that sold a brilliant masterpiece called “The Forever Rose.”

2018-2020: NFT Sales Increase Tenfold

With CryptoKitties and other token lines laying the ground for the NFT market in years before, the three-year span that encompasses the years 2018 and 2020 changed the course of NFT history for the foreseeable future. 2018-2021 marks the ascension of the NFT industry into mainstream attention.

Statista, upon analysis of the market caps in 2021, saw an increase worth 10 times of the market performance in 2018. From a market cap of over $40.96 million in 2018, the value for 2021 reached up to $338.04 million-- a true indicator of the meteoric rise in NFT popularity.

2021: $2.4 Billion in Six Months

According to data gathered by DappRadar, statistics reveal that the recorded sales for the first half of 2021 amounted to values that reach up to $2.47 billion. NonFungible.com, however, with different sets of data, estimate sales at the same time to amount only to $1.3 billion. Whichever the case may be, both sets of data present billion-dollar values. Such numbers show a massive increase when compared to the data gathered from the previous year. NFT sales recorded in 2020 for the same period showed up to about $250 million according to Cloudwards; barely a quarter of the value representing only half of the year’s production.

2021: Nearly 40,000 Unique Buyers in March

NonFungible.com, in its analysis of the NFT market, found that in March 2021 NFTs had 39,000 unique buyers. Consistently, the previous month also recorded 30,000 unique buyers, showing consistency in market growth.

In contrast, in an analysis of the information from 2020, numbers also show a huge jump. The average number of unique buyers per month in 2020 was fewer than 10,000 individuals. NonFungible.com particularly used data from Q2 2020 to Q2 2021 and found an increase of over 450%.

Social Effects of NFTs

The NFT market has also developed a steady community of enthusiasts in the form of e-sports fans. 2,200 subjects were surveyed regarding their interest in the NFT trade in March 2021. The survey covered whether their interest was in the form of a hobby or an investment. Results from the study revealed that the majority of interested collectors also happened to be e-sports fans as well. A little over 20% declared that they were “very interested,” while 35% of the respondents indicated that they were “somewhat interested.” 

During the study, an analysis of the age groups found that the millennials were the most probable NFT investors, as 23% of the demographic affirmed that they’re likely to invest. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, indicated that only 2% of the respondent believe that they’d collect NFTs.

NFTs have reached record heights in the 2020s. In 2021 alone, according to Nonfungible.com, from January 1 to December 2, sales have reached nearly $12 billion. In the first six months of this same year, NFT sales amounted to over $2.4 billion. Data gathered by DappRadar uncovered that the sales for just the first half of 2021 have an aggregate total that reaches up to $2.47 billion. NonFungible.com, on the other hand, estimates the sales to only reach $1.3 billion.

But whichever set of numbers you look into, one thing is certain: early into the year, the NFT market has exponentially grown into a billion-dollar industry. These numbers are a huge jump when compared to the NFT market’s performance in the previous year. According to Cloudwards, in 2020, NFT sales for the same six-month span were at about $250 million. A far cry from this year’s production.

Experts believe that mankind has only scratched the surface of this wondrous technology. There are still uncharted possibilities in the functionality of NFTs and smart contracts that are waiting to be explored. This is the reason why investors and collectors are on a mad gold rush in entering and engaging with this vastly growing market. There’s still a demographic or certain population that believes that this NFT rage is no more than a passing trend. In fact, the majority of the general public doesn’t fully understand the underlying possibilities behind this drastic rise in the popularity of NFTs. However, it’s worth pointing out that the numbers say otherwise and many believe that this growth is sustainable, albeit at differing levels, for decades to come.

NFTs have both simple and complex use cases through smart contracts. And as this fame and renown rages on, other industries and aspects of society have made a visible effort in incorporating NFTs into existing institutions in unprecedented haste.

Gaming

The gaming industry is the next frontier most likely to be influenced by NFTs. During the pandemic, gaming has grown into one of the biggest industries the world has ever seen. With the emergence of streaming and easy pivot systems in the competitive scene to thrive during the pandemic, the market has enjoyed a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.9% from 2020 to 2027.

Experts have been predicting that the burgeoning gaming industry is most probably the next domain to see a vast foundational transition with NFTs. The key to this fundamental shift lies in the notion that gamers have a deep identification with their digital identities. The gamer demographic place a significant and indelible value on their gaming identity’s personal history, progress, circles, tales, and reputation. This attachment results in the investment of hundreds -- or even thousands of dollars -- in games, sales of digital assets like ‘skins’ or costumes to improve aesthetics, booster packages to enhance gaming performance in-game, or unlockable content to enjoy alternative narratives and realms.

With the advent of the Play-to-Earn system, players can participate in a mechanism that allows players to engage in a game, contribute value to a community through gameplay, and win NFT digital assets in the process.

Becoming owners of such assets, gamers can start a pseudo-entrepreneurial venture by selling their acquired NFTs to earn money alongside the game developer. This system then forms a mutually-beneficial developer-customer relationship instead of a widely exploitable dependence. As the cherry on top, the NFTs that gamers earn become truly owned by the player. Thanks to blockchain technology, in lieu of the old system where assets are centrally controlled by game creators and their cohorts. This means, even if the game shuts down, NFTs can still operate and be useable in other virtual communities. This system is quite literally a game-changer and dramatically changes the paradigms in which many games operate. It allows a more fair allocation of power and prosperity.

Social Impact

There are visionaries in the world that have found ways for NFTs to become part of a positive force in societies. Leyline founder, Jeremy Dela Rosa, envisioned and established a non-profit organization that would spearhead social impact through the utilization of NFTs. The vision for Leyline is to nurture a sustainable NFT system that empowers and enables a way to enjoy work that shows social and environmental good. Their platform also allows users to earn NFT collectibles by doing positive deeds in the world. These NFTs are representations of a cause or advocacy that people strive for to make the world a better place to live in.

The deeds and actions that users do through Leyline are preserved and immortalized within the NFTs produced by the system. The Leyline NFTs, then, can be used as art pieces for personal galleries whether it be online or in real life. Through the platform, friends and family can see the history of the good deeds done by users so it can inspire a positive consciousness among minds that witness it. The goal of this feature is to inspire people who view the NFTs into action through their acts of altruism in the platform. Leyline bridges the physical world and the digital world by rewarding acts that influence real-life change with technological gratuity.

Real Estate

Blockchain technology and the NFT systems the thrive in today’s market also have use-cases and efficient utility when it comes to contracts, certifications, ownership, and claim history. Through the smart contracts that power NFTs, data regarding such documents will all be securely stored and publicly available.

Using the blockchain and NFT systems on real estate can also automate strenuous amounts of paperwork and get rid of countless intermediaries. The use of blockchains and smart contracts can also deter fraudulent activities, which unfortunately occur more frequently than most people realize. If more and more contracts are integrated into the system and are minted as NFTs and secured on a blockchain, real estate fraud will be improbable -- if not impossible. The security that smart contracts provide is virtually impossible to cheat, breach, or even hack. Digital assets minted as NFTs benefit from the security that can easily be traceable and heavily enforces transparency and accountability. Gmoney, a prominent futurist and disrupter, claims that mortgages are also NFT's.

“Would the 2008 crisis have even happened if all the MBS indexes were fully transparent, on chain? There would have not been any possibility for re-hypothecation, underlying assets and leverage would have been able to be monitored in real-time, and the entire financial system wouldn't have come crumbling down, needing a bailout by taxpayers.” Gmoney argued.

The Metaverse

Many companies are building towards the creation of virtual realities that many call metaverses. Through metaverses, the internet is enlivened through the virtual worlds that people are currently working to create.

The goal for an ideal metaverse is to create a digital or world where there are endless possibilities. In metaverse worlds, users are given the ability to personalize their life according to their design, communicate with real people through digital communities, and customize the avatar that will traverse the wide communities that will be built online. In the future, companies are working to expand the functionality available to users like augmented reality features, or the availability on smartphones and other devices.

The concept of the metaverse holds a great similarity with the concept of a virtual world that can be seen in the movie “Ready Player One.” With the power of cutting-edge technology and innovations in blockchain technology, the biggest companies in the world have been able to produce AIs and engines that augment the capabilities of computers to the point that concepts one thought to be impossible like entire virtual worlds are now within man’s reach. Metaverses are one of those innovations that people of the future can visit. It’s a concept of innovation so powerful it would make the modern internet look like can openers in comparison.

NFTs will play a huge role in the creation of metaverses. To enforce and implement the concept of ownership in these digital worlds, the smart contract feature that power and make NFTs extremely secure will be essential for its fruition. In application, “homes” that will be built will be equipped with NFT-secured prints or even NFT art decorations. These assets can be bought from NFT marketplaces or other collectors within the same digital space. When throwing a party in the digital home, users can put on NFT-minted music while appreciating other NFT assets within the virtual house.

Travelling will no longer be as big a hassle as it is today as friends from the other side of the world can arrive with just a few clicks. They will no longer require fuel or the sharing of an uber with strangers. For housewarming gifts, they will also make use of NFTs that may have been purchased through the power of blockchain technology.

NFTs also have features that can help integrate the metaverse and the real and physical world. Through NFTs, real physical venues can have digital counterparts in the metaverse. NFT art galleries can also exist in digital and physical realms as displays. Music concerts can be produced in the actual venue while expanding their audience in digital space through virtual bars. The tickets that producers release can be sold as NFTs that can be stored in a digital collection of concert tickets to be displayed in a virtual home owned by users -- complete with signatures and personal messages from artists and idols.

In fact, several entities have already hit the market. Some of these pioneers and trailblazers are Decentraland, a virtual world; Sandbox, an open gaming metaverse similar to Minecraft powered by NFTs; OnCyber, a virtual community designed for 3D NFT Galleries; and VCCESS, which launched a social marketplace as the first phase of their metaverse.

NFTs and the Future

Humans, in their push for advancement and progress, have learned to utilize technology to build a greater society. As technology co-evolves with humanity, advancements in sciences and engineering have seemingly become faster and faster, eventually outpacing developments that creators and developers have even conceived.

Creators of the first computers would have never expected their creation to become the very instrument to connect the world over and creators of the internet would have never expected the innovation of social media. The point is, the advancement of technology has seemingly outpaced their very creators as creations have presented unexpected impacts that open modern science to even more opportunities for innovation.
Fortunately, developers of blockchain technology specifically intended to develop the very wonders it makes possible now. The mission was to democratize a global community. With these futuristic advances and progress in technology, each person is given the capability to contribute to a developing society. As innovations are introduced continuously unraveled, like the concept of the Metaverse or the development of other virtual worlds, humans of this generation are the beginning of this next step in evolution. It is up to each soul to make the most out of such milestones by embracing progress and doing their best to learn and adapt to new circumstances to advance humanity and reshape civilization.

The history of NFTs teaches a valuable lesson and people should learn from it. Technology and the human will to create and change is boundless -- and the future can only have endless opportunities. Through tokenization, programmability, collaboration, royalties, and other innovations, NFTs may soon not only be essential for daily life but also give way to society-altering developments that will define an era and usher humanity into the future.

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