As we enter the golden age of owning digital property. Are you prepared?

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Think about it, who wouldn’t want to hold property? Even if it isn’t physical? Many would–and it’s the desire of many, to hold prime real estate. Gamers can relate more to digital ownership of property. For those that have seen the Ernest Cline novel, turned Hollywood movie – Ready Player One. Things are getting closer every day.

In the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak, the world has seen the need to pivot. To become more cleanly, more efficient and safe.

Decentralized virtual environments such as The Sandbox are seeing their land sellout in record time. And according to Nonfungible.com, Cryptovoxels users carried out 117 trades this week for a 7-day volume of $74,000.

The ownership of digital assets, useable inside a virtual or simulated environment is an idea that seems to be quickly transcending Hollywood.

Just add blockchain

Before smart contracts and blockchain technology, ownership was very centralized and controlled. But then the Ethereum blockchain tore down walls, innovation kicked in, gained traction and fractional ownership of a physical asset, or tokenization as we know it, was made possible.

With that, the community became more innovative. And at the height of it all, we had CryptoKitties in early 2018.

Being popular and relatable, these digital cats were special, fetched several thousand dollars in the open markets, existed in the digital ether of Ethereum, and were controlled by smart contracts.

Each cat was unique, and the owner had full control. This was made possible because each cat was basically a Non-Fungible Token (NFT).

What are non-fungible tokens?

Let’s start at the beginning. A fungible token can be exchanged for another where both bear the same characteristics with no discernible distinctions. ETH, TRX, BTC, and most coins/tokens are considered fungible.

An easily relatable real-world example of something fungible could be a one-dollar banknote. If you were to lend that note to someone. It wouldn’t matter if they didn’t return the exact same one.

When something is non-fungible, although it may look identical to another item. It will have unique information or attributes that make it irreplaceable or impossible to swap.

One easy to understand real-world example of a non-fungible asset could be a bus ticket. They all look pretty much the same. But each one has a different name, destination, departure time and seat number. Exchanging your ticket with someone else could lead to some serious issues.

True ownership

Every NFT token, even from the same emission, varies in properties and each is unique. Their value also varies and cannot be reproduced. If duplicated or in any way exchanged, its value is permanently lost.

In the real-world, a piece of art could be produced. Let’s for argument’s sake say its The Mona Lisa – by Leonardo Da Vinci. That image is unique, cannot be reproduced and if duplicated or exchanged its value would be lost. Now imagine that image is digital and the same rules apply. Make sense yet?

Blockchain games

Gaming is another obvious area ripe for disruption through real digital ownership. Currently, gamers spend a huge amount of money on digital assets. Whether they are loot crates, new avatar outfits or car upgrades. All of it, in essence, is just a bit of code. Paid for, but not owned. That could all change thanks to NFTs.

Since NFT tokens operate from the blockchain, we can define them as unique blockchain-managed digital items or assets that represent ownership.

The nature of blockchain also means these unique tokens are publicly accessible and verifiable, creating some digital scarcity. Uniquely and without the presence of a third party. As economics dictates, scarcity means demand and that’s where value is created.

Recently, the blockchain platform – WAX, announced a partnership with the world’s longest-standing and largest producer of tradable cards – Topps.

Topps boasts franchises such as Star Wars, Major League Baseball, WWE and the Garbage Pail Kids. Collectors will be able to buy, sell, trade and store their blockchain collections using blockchain to authenticate each card and its content.

In the physical world. Topps trading cards have regularly sold in secondary markets for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Valuable assets

These valuable tokens are therefore assets that are scarce bear unique properties, and like every other token can be stored in a wallet.

The application of NFTs can extend beyond fun collectibles. NFT implementation can secure valuables like degree certificates, medical records, KYC information, voting, copyright, and so much more.

At DappRadar, the majority of tracked NFT tokens are operated from the Ethereum blockchain. EOS, Tron, and Loom are also hosting some. You can find these unique tokens under the “Collectibles” category.

Interested in learning more about digital ownership and how to get involved? Check out these articles to take you deeper.

