NFTs…What are they?
If by now you haven’t heard of the term “NFT” you are probably living under a rock! You might know what NFT stands for but what exactly are they? What’s the hype about? Why should I care? Let’s dive right into it.
What are NFTs?
So NFT a.k.a Non Fungible Tokens are one of a kind. Meaning, they cannot be traded. Think cryptocurrencies like Ethereum that can be traded for exactly the same coin. However, that’s not the case with NFT.
Go back in time when you were a kid and used to collect cards of a game. How did you do that? Either buy the product in which the cards came along or trade it with your friends. That’s exactly what NFT is — a one-of-a-kind trading card and non-fungible. If you trade card A you will get either a card B, C, D…something completely different.
What counts as NFTs?
Anything, and I mean it! Music, painting, memes, GIFs, virtual cards, pictures….even tweets! Anything and everything is an NFT if you own the intellectual property rights to it. It is a unique digital item with the owner and that rarity gives NFTs its value.
Right-click and save…and why should I care?
So about that…you sure can right-click and save the NFT but you would essentially be owning a copy. Not the original. Confused? Let’s take a real-life example.
In the real world, people pay thousands of dollars to buy a Rolex? Why? Why not just buy a first-hand copy of the same for considerably less amount? After all, they both show you time. The answer is status! It’s for the same reason people pay thousands of dollars to own a Gucci belt or a Loius Vuitton handbag. It’s original and is a status of symbol.
Another example could be having a painting of Mona Lisa hung up on your wall. Does it mean that you own the painting? Of course not? It’s a copy and everybody knows it. Okay, fine, this is a very famous painting and hence anyone should know it.
How about the time you buy a new car? If someone challenges you, you have the papers to prove that this is infact your car. Now NFTs also work in the same manner.
Though people can right-click and save the NFT, but at the end of the day, it is just a copy. If someone does ask you to prove that the particular NFT belongs to you, all you need to give the person is your “Public Key” of your wallet.
I know it’s a lot to take in. Like ‘what’s a public key? or what do you mean by a wallet?, etc’. This is just the beginning of the series. There will be more articles coming out. Stay tuned!
