The history of NFTs and what the future holds

Bianca D. Bianca D.
10 Mar 2022
3 min read
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The history of NFTs and what the future holds


The digital world was set to be revolutionised after the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Whitepaper in 2018 where Bitcoin has been defined as “a peer-to-peer version of electronic cash sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution”. This meant a milestone has been achieved in terms of decentralisation and we were now a step closer to the transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0.


Web 1.0 refers to the period between 1991 and 2004 where the majority of internet users were consumers, not creators where websites were read-only, web 2.0 also called the social web (2005-present) introduced the social networks and allowed users to be creators due to the interactive web platforms and web 3.0 referred to as the Semantic web will rely on ML, AR and AI along with human intervention for decision-making processes.


In the blockchain, decentralization refers to the transfer of control and decision-making from a centralised entity (individual, organisation, group) to a distributed network”. This allowed for smart contracts to be embedded as part of an NFT which represents a sale agreement between the NFT owner and the buyer. Through a smart contract, you can program for any actions to automatically be executed and documented on the blockchain. 


NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are digital assets exchangeable over blockchain platforms such as Ethereum, Solana and Polygon. Through them, you can prove ownership of a unique digital item. The first-ever NFT to be minted on the Ethereum blockchain on the 7th of August 2015 was Terra Nullius which allowed you to stake your ‘’claim’’ on the blockchain, these are now available to buy on opensea.io from Terra Nullius V2 collection at a floor price of 0.02Eth.


NFT holders can fully utilise their digital assets in the Metaverse due to blockchain technology which allows them to prove ownership. The Metaverse will allow users to interact amongst themselves in a virtual reality like they would in the real world.


The NFT market boomed in 2021 with some of the most renowned collections being: Bored Ape Yacht Club released on the 23rd of April 2021 with a pre-sale price of 0.08 Eth and a current Floor price of 73.5 Eth followed by Vee Friends (Garry Vee’s Collection) launched on 11th of May 2021 which was sold at an auction with a starting price of 3Eth end up hitting a floor price of 0.5Eth and has a current floor price value of 15.75Eth and lastly Mutant Ape Yacht released on 28th of August 2021 for a fixed mint price of 3Eth which became 0.01Eth in the space of 9 hours and a current value floor price of 14.8Eth.


Can an NFT be considered an investment?  


Yes! Whether it gives you access to a community, it allows you to own a piece of digital art or it generates passive income, NFTs are a new asset class set to revolutionise the digital world.


NFTs have started to be introduced in Crypto gaming which accelerated the adoption, they have also been associated with big brands such as Nike who acquired RTFKT on the 13th of December 2021 “a leading brand that leverages cutting edge innovation to deliver next-generation collectibles that merge culture and gaming” however we are still in early of stages of adoption with only 2.8% of internet users in the USA owning an NFT.



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Bianca D.
Bianca D.
Writer
About the Author

Financial Crime Investigator & AML Specialist. Crypto Educator NFT Marketing & Crypto Promoter DeFi & Web 3.0 Content Writer