Introduction to NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) burst into mainstream consciousness primarily through digital art sales, with headline-grabbing pieces like Beeple’s ‘Everydays: The First 5000 Days’ selling for US$69 million in 2021.
However, the technology underlying NFTs — blockchain-based certificates of ownership for unique digital assets — has applications far beyond pixelated avatars, digital paintings, and music. As the technology matures, innovators across industries are leveraging the unique properties of NFTs to solve real-world problems and create new opportunities.
1. Gaming and Virtual Economies
Gaming, notably the Web3 kind, was made for NFTs. Players already spend millions on in-game items, but those assets usually stay locked inside a single game, controlled by the publisher.
NFTs flip the script, giving players real ownership of items they can trade, sell, or use outside the game. Axie Infinity pioneered the ‘play-to-earn’ (P2E) movement, letting players battle, breed, and sell digital creatures as NFTs. For many, especially in developing countries, this wasn’t just a game, it was income.
Projects like The Sandbox and Decentraland are building open worlds where NFT gears move together with players. For example, a sword from one game might become wall art in another. It’s cross-platform play with cross-world ownership.
2. Digital Identity and Credentials
NFTs can do more than represent ownership, they can prove owners’ identity, as well. Examples include licenses, memberships, and diplomas, where, instead of calling a university or emailing HR, anyone can verify credentials instantly with an NFT.
Schools like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have already tested blockchain diplomas, which are tamper-proof, easy to store, and easy to verify.
It goes beyond formal education, however. NFTs can track professional certifications, highlight community contributions, or mark reputation in decentralised networks. If someone has contributed to an open-source project, a participation token could prove it.
3. Real Estate and Physical Asset Tokenisation
By tokenising property, ownership becomes digital, which is easier to transfer, split, and track. For instance, NFTs can store property titles and ownership records securely on-chain, meaning fewer disputes, faster transfers, and less need for intermediaries.
Fractional ownership becomes much more practical through NFTs, as well. By dividing property ownership into tradeable tokens, real estate investment becomes accessible to those without the capital to purchase entire properties.
4. Supply Chain and Product Authenticity
By tagging products with unique digital records, brands can track every step, from raw material to retail shelf. In the food and beverage industry, IBM Food Trust uses blockchain to trace items like lettuce or coffee. NFTs also add another layer by giving each product, or batch, its own verifiable ID.
Additionally, an NFT acts like a digital passport, showing where something has been and who’s owned it. In fashion, luxury brands are testing NFT certificates to fight counterfeits and prove ownership history. The same applies to rare goods: watches, wine, classic cars. Diamonds can be tracked from mine to market. Coffee can be proven as fairly sourced.
With NFTs, transparency becomes part of the product.
5. Ticketing and Access Control
Event ticketing suffers from issues like scalping, counterfeiting, and fraud, but with NFT tickets, event organisers can set resale rules like price caps or creator royalties through smart contracts. They cap secondary market prices and ensure original creators receive royalties from subsequent sales.
NFT tickets are also collectible, and fans keep these tickets as digital souvenirs. Artists like Kings of Leon have dropped albums with NFT perks like lifetime front-row seats.
Beyond concerts, NFTs can unlock access to private clubs, online communities, or even token-gated spaces. They verify membership and can gain value as the community grows, as access becomes programmable and portable.
6. Intellectual Property and Royalty Management
With smart contracts built into NFTs, royalties can be automated and paid out instantly, with no middlemen. For example, a musician releases a track as an NFT, and every resale or stream triggers a split to the artist, producer, songwriter, and other involved parties.
In publishing, authors could do the same. E-books tied to NFTs could let readers resell digital copies while still paying the writer a cut. Even patents and trademarks can be tokenised, turning complex licensing into transparent, self-executing agreements.
7. Governance and Voting
Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) already use NFT-based tokens to handle voting. Rules can be coded in. For example, longer-term holders may get more weight, or votes may reflect a member’s contribution, not just their wallet size.
This logic extends beyond Web3, as municipal governments could issue NFT-based IDs for secure voting or to access community services. In the corporate sphere, shareholder votes could move on-chain, as well, replacing slow proxy systems with direct, transparent participation. If adoption could come to fruition, such systems could increase participation through mobile or remote voting without sacrificing integrity.
Conclusion
NFTs started with art, but the technology’s broader potential addresses real-world issues across various industries. From gaming and identity to real estate and voting, the promise of NFTs lies in making ownership easier, verification simpler, and value transfer smarter.
The best NFT use cases won’t shout ‘blockchain’. They’ll quietly power smoother systems, stronger rights, and new opportunities.
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Non-Fungible Tokens: 7 Uses of NFTs Beyond Art
NFTs can be used for more than just collectibles and art, such as real estate, supply chain, and intellectual property. Learn about NFTs here.
- Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) extend beyond digital art to include identity management, gaming, real estate, supply chains, ticketing, intellectual property, and governance.
- Educational institutions and certification organisations can use NFTs to securely verify credentials, and real estate NFTs allow fractional ownership, simplifying title management and enhancing liquidity.
- NFTs enable genuine ownership of virtual assets in gaming, fostering vibrant virtual economies and cross-platform interoperability.
- Brands leverage NFTs for supply chain transparency, authenticity verification, and fraud prevention.
- Event ticketing and memberships benefit from NFT programmability, reducing fraud, eliminating scalping, and allowing creators to retain royalties from resale markets.
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