The world is experiencing the rage and a revolution given by the "non-fungible token" (Non-Fungible Token), which can be considered a 'digital 'good', and are characterized -mainly- by their scarcity (there is a limited number and even unique pieces), in addition to its ability to digitally certify its authenticity and ownership, for example, through Blockchain technology.
For this reason, José Martí Parreño, Vice-rector for Research and Transfer at the International University of Valencia – VIU explains some of the keys to NFTs and what their uses are in new digital environments such as the metaverse.
“NFTs respond to a consumer market in which these digital goods allow the metaverse to be filled with content. Let's imagine that someone buys a virtual piece of land, in which they build a house and want to decorate it with NFTs such as digital pictures or furniture, among others, there are many products that can be virtualized for sale" says José Martí.
And it is that a variety of studies agree that the NFT market, inside and outside the metaverse, moves millions of dollars with astronomical data. A report by Nonfungible.com and L'Atelier (owned by BNP Paribas), assured that the amount of sales of digital products in 2021 exceeded 17,000 million dollars, which meant an increase of 21,000% compared to 82 million In 2020 dollars, another analysis by Chainalysis estimated that NFT sales volume exceeded $40 billion last year. And your growth potential increases.
In relation to the metaverse, the Vice Chancellor for Research and Transfer of VIU, added that "the metaverse is very varied and things like clothing, music or audiovisual content can be converted into digital items, there is an infinity, which is arousing the interest of the people to populate their virtual world with these kinds of goods. Furthermore, the goal is that they can be carried through the metaverse.”
Blockchain also has a role, as it is the technology that is generally used to certify the authenticity and ownership of the NFT and the metaverse. Many wonder where to buy NFTs or invest in them? The answer is that there are an infinity of platforms to acquire them.
In most cases, these platforms are specialized according to the type of NFT, whether they are art, music or video games or those that exist. Although, obviously, the natural space of this market is online, the trading of NFTs has transcended the virtual world and even the well-known auction house Christie's has already auctioned them.
“The use of NFTs is as varied as the imagination of their creators. You can buy from a painting to hang on the wall of a virtual home, to a t-shirt to wear your avatar, a helmet, a car or a wide range of objects. They can also be sold or traded. The monetization of artistic creations has been precisely one of the determinants of the rise of NFTs”, said José Martí, Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer at VIU.
To conclude, it is important to bear in mind that the fact that NFTs are sometimes unique or limited edition pieces encourages purchasing behavior such as that of collectors, attracted by the exclusivity and status that owning a unique "piece" represents. .