What is an NFT? The Motley Fool

“Non-fungible” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing. These items allow the website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced, more personal features. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your current location.

This stands in stark contrast to most digital creations, which are almost always infinite in supply. Hypothetically, cutting off the supply should raise the value of a given asset, assuming it’s in demand. NFTs are also generally one of a kind, or at least one of a very limited run, and have unique identifying codes.

Someone may sell an NFT that represents their work, but the buyer will not necessarily receive copyright to that work, and the seller may not be prohibited from creating additional NFT copies of the same work. NFTs and cryptocurrencies rely on the same underlying blockchain technology. NFT marketplaces may also require people to purchase NFTs with a cryptocurrency. However, cryptocurrencies and NFTs are created and used for different purposes. As NFTs for digital artwork have sold for millions — sometimes tens of millions — of dollars, to say they're popular could be an undersell.

More recently, the Bored Ape Yacht Club has garnered controversial attention for its high prices, celebrity following, and high-profile thefts of some of its 10,000 NFTs. NFTs can also function to represent individuals' identities, property rights, and more. "The bitcoin elite are spending millions on collectable memes". You might have seen the news this weekend that the voice of James Earl Jones is being cloned using AI so his performance as Darth Vader in Star Wars can live on forever. Jupiter will be about 367 million miles away from Earth this evening. While that may seem like a long way, it’s the closest it’s been to our home planet since 1963.

NFTs have actually been around since 2015, but they are now experiencing a boost in popularity thanks to several factors. First, and perhaps most obviously, is the normalization and excitement of cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain frameworks. Beyond the technology itself is the combination of fandom, the economics of royalties, and the laws of scarcity. Consumers all want to get in on the opportunity to own unique digital content and potentially hold them as a type of investment. NFTs are currently taking the digital art and collectables world by storm.

Ethereum was the first blockchain to support NFTs with its ERC-721 standard and this is currently the most widely used. Many other blockchains have added or plan to add support for NFTs. This would enable event organizers or performers to garner royalties on resales. In March 2021 an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first-ever tweet sold for $2.9 million. The same NFT was listed for sale in 2022 at $48 million, but only achieved a top bid of $280. In November 2021, film director Quentin Tarantino released seven NFTs based on uncut scenes of Pulp Fiction.

This gives investors and fans the opportunity to own a part of an NFT without having to buy the whole thing. This adds even more opportunities for NFT minters and collectors alike. As NFTs are essentially deeds, one day you could buy a car or home using ETH and receive the deed as an NFT in return . As things become increasingly high-tech, it's not hard to imagine a world where your Ethereum wallet becomes the key to your car or home – your door being unlocked by the cryptographic proof of ownership. This works in a similar way to a website domain name which makes an IP address more memorable.

Idle equipment, absent workers, deserted villages, an empty swimming pool. VinFast is Vietnam’s answer to Tesla, with the goal of making 1 million EVs in the next 5-6 years to sell to customers US, Canada and Europe. But technically, anyone can sell an NFT, and they could ask for whatever currency they want. In reality, many, many people have gotten their NFTs stolen by attackers using a variety of tactics. For the ever complicated hack of the programs that control the flow of crypto, there’s a case where someone was tricked into signing a transaction they shouldn’t have through run-of-the-mill phishing. Part of the allure of blockchain is that it stores a record of each time a transaction takes place, making it harder to steal and flip than, say, a painting hanging in a museum.

You’ll need a digital wallet that allows you to store your NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Once a transaction is confirmed, it's impossible to manipulate the data to forge the ownership. Although NFTs are created using the same kind of programming language as other cryptocurrencies, that's where the similarity ends. These unique NBA moments are minted and released into the marketplacevia “pack drops.”The most common sell for only nine dollars, but more exclusive packs can sell for much more. It enables you to buy, sell and store 10,000 collectibles with proof-of-ownership.