The media are increasingly bursting with news of some NFT image sold at a price of several million dollars, of people paying unprecedented money for songs, artwork or even real estate in the NFT format.

And it does not stop there. The NFT token market was appraised at $40 billion in 2021. The popularity of non-fungible tokens is gaining pace, and we offer an insight into what NFTs are and why they raise these incredible investments.

Making Sense of the Notion: What is an NFT?

A simple Google search “what are NFT tokens?” will immediately yield one million pages where you will find a standard definition: “this is a non-fungible (non-interchangeable) token operated in the blockchain system.”

What is special about the NFTs is that each has a different price and is absolutely unique. Any specific NFT cannot be exchanged for another token, and it cannot be divided. For a better understanding, consider currencies: any bitcoin can be replaced by another bitcoin; any dollar can be broken down into cents. You cannot do that with NFTs.

An NFT is a certificate entitling its holder to own digital assets such as images, songs, GIF files or videos in the NFT format, various elements of video games and even works of art.

NFT marketplaces—trading platforms enabling the purchase/sale of digital assets—emerged with the growing demand for NFT tokens. OpenSea, the largest and best known NFT marketplace established in 2017, broke the trading volume record in January 2022, exceeding $3.5 billion.

But NFTs can also be purchased on other platforms: Rarible, Niftygateway and SuperRare.

All sales transactions are in Ethereum currency, and each marketplace charges its transaction fee. Besides, these platforms are necessary to create NFTs.

NFT Tokens: List of Remarkable Examples

Having bought an NFT, its owner leaves a permanent trace in the digital space and possesses a unique item. Tokens receive increased attention from collectors and avid gamers who buy rare weapons or collectible video game cards.

One of the figures to remain in the NFT history for ever is Mike Winkelmann. The artist, known under the pseudonym Beeple, put up the world’s first NFT collage for auction in March 2021, and sold it at $69.3 billion. The work of art is titled Everydays: the First 5000 Days.

One can easily remember a number of other sensational transactions in the NFT market. For instance, Twitter’s founder sold his first tweet for $2.9 million; the American Time magazine sold its covers; Elon Musk recorded an NFT track; John Lennon’s son placed on the NFT auction his father’s coat from the Help! film; and Johnny Depp has recently revealed Never Fear Truth—a collection of NFT portraits created by him.

For fairness’ sake it should be noted that the NFT market is not dominated by millionaires and global brands. Not at all. This is a realm of unlimited possibilities. Hence the hype around NFTs—a chance to become the owner of something unique or earn millions.

There is an inspiring story of an Indonesian student who earned one million in OpenSea by selling his NFT selfies. Sultan Gustaf Al-Ghozali sold over one thousand of his portraits.

The token market has grown so much that the world will see the first NFT series in 2022—science fiction drama GenZeroes. Anyone wanting to watch the new arrival, buy collectibles or even acquire show rights will need to purchase an NFT.

The NFT trend has also reached Ukraine. Ukrainian rapper Alyona Alyona pulled in over 7 thousand dollars by selling her NFT track Galas while Okean Elzy band broke down their song Children’s Land into fragments and also sold it as tokens. Vasiliy Kolotusha, an artist from Ukraine, put up for sale a curious lot—crypto crisps.

NFT’s Future and Development Trends

The world is just starting to make sense of the NFT topic, and an increasing number of experts are showing an interest and desire to understand what will be the role of cryptocurrencies, blockchain and tokens in the lives of people.

For now the token market is expanding largely thanks to collectors but the situation is changing and there are multiple indications that NFTs will soon come into everyday usage. For instance, tokens’ uniqueness and blockchain system’s security may lead to the conversion of documents, diplomas, contracts etc. into the NFT format. Payment cards could also move to the NFT plane, enabling payments for goods and services.

I believe,that the whole world is being tokenized and digitalized, many processes go digital and the blockchain technology is used with increasing frequency in the private and public sectors. And it is the NFT technology that provides the means to tokenize any product or object, i.e. convert it into blockchain.

Like we could not have imagined before that we would be able to pay without using cash, pay with a cell phone, and this is standard practice today. The same is in store for the tokenization; it is not understood by many people yet but this technology will be seen more and more often.

So it is likely that every digital wallet will soon contain our documents, certificates and licenses.