This trendy topic is often associated with excessive hype, frivolous art for millions of dollars, and Snoop Dogg. And sometimes, even with scams.
However, what it means at all? Why non-fungible tokens became so popular if they’re so “frivolous,” and why the NFT marketplace development is a good idea for an app?
Well, see how NFT trading has risen since 2020. It’s grown several hundred times!
They are services where tokens are exchanged. You can go there to be involved in this topic, and while they are mostly focused on digital art now, you’ll see that it’s a future of ownership and personal security. Especially, in connection with such technologies as AI and metaverse.
So, let’s start and see how this strange tool changes the world.
A Non-formal Introduction to NFT Stuff
Non-fungible tokens are like encrypted digital keys, which proves that one indeed owns something using blockchain keys. They use smart contracts similar to all other blockchains, such as cryptocurrencies, but each of them has a unique code assigned to it, which makes these tokens non-fungible. See the funny diagram from New Scientist below to understand the concept of NFTs and their collections as the unique property, bound to their owner.
No wonder they have become especially relevant for digital art trading. It is the field where ownership is the key. Each piece of art is unique and if a painter wants to sell it for big money, they can transfer the whole ownership to the seller.
Digital art is a pretty narrow niche, relevant for bohemian art movements and various people who love enjoying such art and pay a lot for it. For example, Snoop Dogg, a famous rapper, is into NFTs and bought many of them. Now he has a collection on an NFT marketplace OpenSea, which you can see via the link.
But, why should this topic be limited by digital art? Metaverse is a large emerging industry of the future Internet, where 3D avatars, corresponding to people, may live and move between virtual worlds. Each of them will be filled with various stuff, just like modern websites. But there’s a key difference.
As the metaverse is the whole interconnection of virtual worlds, people will be happy to create their own stuff there. And, for sure, there will be the need for ownership, which cannot be appropriated by others, including the company which operates the virtual world. That’s where NFTs will help, ensuring the property. See the image below as the representation of this concept.
In general, NFT technologies can be utilized in all areas where proof of ownership and privilege are necessary, such as in tickets.
There are large NFT marketplaces where people can trade their NFT and create collections. OpenSea is one of them, the most famous and the largest. Rarible and SuperRare are two other examples.
Let’s Compare
OpenSea is by far the most famous example of an NFT marketplace. It was founded in 2017, long before NFT became so trendy. There are many collections of various digital art, assets, and other forms of property, and new ones always emerge. All of them can be purchased only using cryptocurrency.
Rarible was developed in 2019 as a digital art gallery and a marketplace combined in one. It has its own RariToken with a value, rewarding for purchases by it. Another advantage is the vast integration with social media and the ability to see OpenSea proposals. However, it has pretty large fees: 2.5% from both buyer and seller, and it accepts only Ethereum.
SuperRare is less popular than the two others, and it has an invite-only system. Established in 2019, it aims at building a creator economy, and for now, it’s pretty much like a closed community for digital artists. To obtain an invite, you must provide your digital art collections which you aren’t selling on other platforms and which will be accepted by the platform.
As you see, they are pretty similar, despite OpenSea is the general-purpose marketplace, while Rarible and SuperRare are much more artist-oriented, especially SuperRare.
The Future of the Crypto Stuff
Do you think that NFTs will remain a bohemian tool for digital artists? Well, due to recent hype, it may seem that they are only a part of a bubble. NFT marketplaces have risen in 2021 and 2022, but now, their rise is much steadier and slower. Right, the rise was based on hype and people’s fascination with them, as well as the involvement of famous people such as Snoop Dogg. It wasn’t backed with actual value.
But, it doesn’t mean that there is no value. So, here is a list of how NFTs may actually be backed.
- Proof of asset ownership is the direct aim of NFT. It’s very hard to steal such ownership, and it’s possible that they can be used to prove ownership of physical objects, including real estate.
They gained popularity in the gaming industry, enabling gamers to bind paid in-game items to themselves. In the metaverse future, NFTs will be indispensable, serving as tools for ownership.
- Invites, making sure that only certain people will be allowed to a meeting or community.
- Tickets that almost cannot be forged, due to the unique identifier of each.
- Instruments for secured connections and networks that make communication much safer. A token grants an exclusive right to connect to an encrypted network and communicate via it.
- Club cards for organizations, from corporations to political parties and virtual societies to ensure no information leaks.
NFT marketplaces see their ultimate missions in the future, where digital property trading will be a common thing. They position themselves as virtual markets of everything.
While for now, NFTs have mostly artistic value, more and more utility features are implemented, such as the ability to stack and unique experiences connected with tokens. In addition, each good NFT creates a strong community, which benefits its members in various ways.
How to Enter This Niche? Features
So, if you want your NFT marketplace to be attractive and useful, consider implementing all features below.
- Search: if your users are unable to find the assets they want, they’ll be disappointed at least. Be sure to add filters based on the NFT style, utility, price, blockchain type, owner, and other points.
- Clear gallery of NFTs to browse and see full descriptions of each.
- Create and add an NFT, but ensure that authors will add all necessary details, so your users will be satisfied. you can also provide various templates for authors.
- NFT purchasing, either directly on a fixed price or via the auction. There are a lot of negotiations and community engagement around NFTs, so the function of price negotiation will certainly be relevant!
- See prices and the fluctuation of each token and compare with others
- Easily and seamlessly connect a wallet or create their own to ensure quick and secure payments. The more blockchain networks you can support, the better it’ll be.
The development process isn’t very different from creating other apps: the only major difference is the NFT concept itself.
Conclusion
You see that the NFT topic is pretty abstract and certainly very new. It’s mostly connected with digital art and ownership of virtual goods, such as games or metaverse assets. So, at first, it may seem frivolous or even silly, but remember that computer games were once treated similarly.
They attract people, provide experience, and create strong, vibrant communities: that’s their value. And if you speak about the utility, we’ve listed that it can be useful everywhere to assure property ownership or exclusive access, connecting and securing the world.
It has a big potential, and the niche is still pretty unoccupied. OpenSea, Rarible, and SuperRare are large and famous marketplaces, but everything only begins.
So, if you want to create a platform for digital assets and you have a clear vision of its place in the future world, consider developing your own NFT marketplace. You can think about new features, connect your marketplace app with AI technologies, and establish perfect customer support and community engagement to ensure your success. Remember that the power of NFTs is in their communities and rarity – and that their journey only begins!