The cryptocurrency market is constantly evolving. Every day it offers new ways to earn money for everyone, no matter how unethical these methods may be. The newest way is NTF or “non-fungible tokens”. They’ve been around for a few years but the boom started last year and shows no signs of stopping.
One way to understand cryptocurrency is by understanding what non-fungible tokens are. Tokens are different than cryptocurrencies, but they can be traded for crypto on special exchanges. A token is a record of that user’s digital balance in some asset. It also acts as security in the blockchain. There are fungible and non-fungible tokens. Some tokens are interchangeable.
Non-fungible tokens
For example, USD can be exchanged for GBP. Non-fungible tokens or “NFTs” are unique objects that can’t be exchanged or replaced by another token of the same kind. NFT code contains information about the author, its current owner, royalties, etc. It’s impossible to forge such a token. Do you understand? That’s good!
NFTs were introduced to the world in 2017. One of the first use cases was Pepe memes on the Rare Pepe Directory platform. A popular card — a picture of Homer Simpson, stylized as Pepe — sold for $500 shortly after its release. The next NFTs were CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties.
The world of NFTs is growing every day. The first ones were a bunch of unique characters, while the CryptoKitties was (maybe still is?) a game where people farmed and exchanged NFTs. But now, there are so many different types of NFTs out there: from regular people to artists to huge companies. This market is becoming increasingly popular because everyone can get involved. How is this a problem? The issue is that people are willing to pay for a simple photo of a cat or a clip of a basketball match that can be watched on YouTube. Critics say it’s all just meaningless junk. That’s why they call this whole field of NFTs a bubble that will soon burst.
It may sound logical that collectors of physical items would relish the novelty of owning a new kind of collectible, but NFTs are not even tangible. For many, the appeal of collecting is the sense of authenticity–a feeling that their collection is worth something. Some wealthy people are willing to pay a fat juicy dollar for the exclusive thrill of collecting unique items.
NFTs are a new way to buy and sell digital products. These tokens can track anything that involves authentication, from diplomas to property rights. The most popular thing people are doing with these items is reselling them for a higher price.
These tokens are worth the hassle. Digital assets, like memes, images of cats, and virtual NBA cards that cost millions of dollars today, could become worthless tomorrow. How many people will be willing to spend time and energy mining for these tokens? The more the price tag, the more the environment suffers. But that’s a whole different conversation. Just be aware that the more an NFT costs, the more the planet gets polluted.
But at the end of the day, you may have to choose between protecting the environment or getting rich quickly. If you do not, you doom the future generations.
