Playing In A New Sandbox

When you hear the word, “metaverse,” what is your vision? One shared vision was:

The metaverse is a shared virtual space composed of virtual spaces united into one or more virtual worlds. Each with their own unique attributes for economy, currency, digital assets, and avatars. Users may enter a space to interact with other users, attend events, play games, and even transact with businesses and other individuals. Each virtual space supports types of motion (walking, flying, teleporting) and form of user-to-user communication (text chat, audio chat, video chat) within the space.

Technologies essential to the metaverse are cryptocurrency, blockchain, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). An alternative metaverse vision is:

“What is the Metaverse? The immersive NFT-powered future internet.”
-Andrew Hayward Decrypt.co

This vision is bold, intriguing, and instructive, and presents NFT knowledge as the next step in increasing our metaverse awareness.

NFT Definition

An NFT is digital item is viewed and accessed on a public digital ledger called a blockchain. Metadata explains NFT contents which may cover ownership rights, use and resale. A Smart Contract is computer code which governs all the NFT’s contents. NFT’s are bought and sold on public marketplaces or in peer-to-peer transactions facilitated through use of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. NFT applications continue to grow:

• Digital art and photography (or digital representations of physical art/photography)
• Music, video, and rich media
• Metaverse and virtual land plots, virtual objects (furniture, office equipment, etc.), wearables for avatars
• Membership cards – Coachella VIP lifetime pass NFT
• Tickets – with varying experience levels
• Access to special events, discounts, and merchandise
• Royalties for use or on resale
• Online Identity and Reputation

The programmable power within the Smart Contract and blockchain presents a host of supported business relationships:

• Investor
• Club Membership
• Brand Shareholder
• Loyalty Program Participation

NFT’s, as digital assets, created for scarcity by programming, fit nicely, in the metaverse for tracking virtual assets like access, digital apparel, play-to-earn games, created content and plots of land.

NFT Creation

NFT value is in its uniqueness and scarcity. NFT creation requires determining features such as scarcity (versions and copies) upfront because post NFT creation modification is not possible. Taking a digital item and creating a NFT on a blockchain is called minting. Once minted, the digital assets are secured and represented by the NFT. The NFT are bought, sold, and traded with all transaction history tracking supported by the blockchain. NFT creation involves the following:

• Secure rights to a digital/physical asset and convert to the appropriate format for minting (mp3, jpeg, pdf, etc.)
• Choose blockchain technology based on ultimate destination (Ethereum most popular)
• Setup a digital wallet – metamask, ledger
• Purchase cryptocurrency to pay for initial investment – gas fee (many will accept Ether)
• Research and select the best NFT marketplace for your asset type
• Follow the detail loading steps uploading the digital file to the marketplace becoming a marketable NFT
• Determine the monetizing strategy for your NFT (fixed price, auction(s)), secondary market, derivative work plan. 

These are just the basics and look deceptively simple. The technology is evolving, and you need to do your research and get appropriate help if you are a novice.

NFT Value

NFT’s future depends on their ability to differentiate from other business approaches. They must maximize the advantages they have in identity and scarcity of digital ownership. A community that shares in excitement of the NFT’s and has vibrancy and activity is critical for NFT value. Every NFT project should seek ways to provide easy access to membership in the community. Finally, the NFT value based on cryptocurrency exposes it to value fluctuation and financial regulations.

NFT Futures

Make no mistake, it is the wild West out there with this new and emerging technology. Progress and significant profits with NFT’s are being made in art, animation, collectibles, and music. Several sources are making forecasting significant opportunity, with Bloomberg estimating the metaverse market at $400 million by 2024 and Grayscale sees the future potential of a $1 trillion market. NFT’s play a critical role in these valuations, because they are a digital asset that affords the opportunity to simultaneously be an investor, club member, brand shareholder and profit from loyalty programs.

Are you ready to get Meta? Let Yalo help you with your first NFT and enjoy the sensation of cutting-edge Cool before all the other kids on your business block join in the fun. Start a conversation with us below and we’ll answer your questions and provide guidance from start to finish. NFT Design and development services too!