A lot of digital currency savvy guys will know what NFT entails and its functions but for the purpose of everyone, we would define the term before we reel out the list.
NFT is the short form of Non-fungible token. A non-fungible token is a distinct and unalterable unit of data that is stored in a blockchain. In simple terms, it means a one of a kind digital asset that you own and no one else should access.
NFTs show the digital verification of ownership of an asset with the use of blockchain technology. It is unique and cannot be replaced with something else. NFT is a form of digital ledger that can be readily associated with reproducible digital files like photos, videos and audio. Artworks and music are currently the most popular NFTs even though NFTs can include tweets and videos.
The outgoing year saw a sporadic rise in the popularity of Digital assets, especially as 2021 was largely defined by influential shifts in the cryptocurrency and digital currency market. This prompted entertainers, artists, musicians, content creators and other creative talents to think outside the box, to discover more ways of monetizing their works with the advent of these new technologies and the communities that arise from them.
NFTs with its commercial use by entertainers and content creators has became so accepted that it surpassed cryptocurrencies in popularity, to the extent Collins Dictionary named NFT as the word of the year.
The popularity of NFTs may be as a result of variety of reasons, perhaps global digitization and technological improvements but significant of them is the investment of capital into Metaverse tokens like the sandbox NFT items, vehicles, buildings, and land by renowned companies and global brands like Nike to the course.
But the rise of NFTs came with a poisoned chalice: fraudsters are latching on the technology to defraud people of their crypto coins. A recent case study was when scammers stole $150k worth of crypto from an NFT project with Discord hack.
A link sent through the project’s official Discord channel, was a scam set up to steal crypto from unsuspecting users.
In cognizance of this and other cases, one has to take extra precautions while trading with the NFTs.
It is in lieu of this that Techbooky compiled reputable NFT platforms that has remained at the top of their game in the year 2021.
Let’s take a look.
OpenSea
OpenSea, an online marketplace for buying and selling cryptocollectibles, has for a while been a leader in NFT trade and pride itself as the biggest NFT marketplace at the moment. It is a peer-to-peer marketplace where goods like gaming items, digital art and other goods can be bought and sold on the Ethereum blockchain.
OpenSea was founded in 2017, with the company located in New York. It has a good marketplace website that beginners can easily navigate, with its user-friendly interfaces. Veterans and market specialists also sees OpenSea as a worthy NFT trade centre.
The OpenSea NFT backs over 150 tokens in its exchange with its general acceptability from the populace.
Rarible
Rarible just like OpenSea is an Ethereum-based platform that hosts varieties of NFTs. A creator-centric NFT marketplace, Rarible also known as $RARI facilitates the creation, the sale and purchase of ownership rights to digital works of art through the NFT technology. It is a governance token with marketplace Liquidity Mining program, with the airdrop for the large NFT holders.
Taco Bell, Adobe and a host of other companies have listed art on the NFT marketplace but one will need to make use of the marketplace token of the same name to trade on the Rarible platform.
To make use of the Rarible NFT, what one needs is an Ethereum wallet and some ETH coins. The NFT company launched RARI, its native ERC-20 governance token this year, with the intention to use the token to systematically give control of its platforms to its community of users.
Axie Marketplace
Axie Marketplace is another reputable NFT but unlike OpenSea and Rarible, it exclusively sells NFTs that are being used to play the Axie Infinity Video game. In the Video game, tiny cute floating Axies are set up and pitted against other players on the Axies game. The players can then purchase new Axies and real estate to be used in the game.
Players can use the marketplace to bring along their Axies, while selling them in the form of an auction type known as ‘Clock auction’
The marketplace adopts tokens known as Axie Shards, the tokens built on the Ethereum blockchain, can be exchanged on other marketplaces and even some crypto exchanges.
Super Rare
The Super Rare is another effective NFT marketplace that allows users to collect and trade distinct, single-edition digital artworks, with each artwork originally created by an artist in the Super Rare network. The artwork is then tokenized as a crypto-collectible digital item that a user can own or trade.
There is a sort of synergy between Super rare and Opensea as digital creators can sell their impressions like 3D and 2D art, videos, gifs, photos, and videos purchased using Ethereum, and then bought and sold on OpenSea. RARE is the governance token of the Super Rare project.
Nifty Gateway
The Nifty Gateway platform is an art curation platform that combines the crypto-technology and collectable artwork to bring about high-value, tradable assets. A very renowned platform, Nifty Gateway has hosted some of the most popular NFT artists like Beeple and Grimes.
Also built with the Ethereum blockchain, it uses the Gemini token for its exchange.
A notable feature of the Nifty Gateway platform is that the NFTs sold on it, called Nifties, are stored on the platform itself instead of the buyer’s wallet. Another notable feature is that just like the good old-fashioned dollar, can be purchased with fiat currencies.
Editors Note: With the rise of digitalization, crypto currencies and NFT uses, there are other reputable NFTs not mentioned here, but while they continue to grow and reach the pedestal to be mentioned as top NFTs, it is advisable to do your due diligence before jumping on the train.
It is believed that with time, the money grabbers and fraudsters on the NFT train will be out of the way and controlled, effectively paving way for the art lovers and honest investors.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.
He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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