Written by Sinead Banful
Image by @metabirkins
Let me set the scene for you… the year is 2006, you’re about to launch a new business venture you have been working on for years it’s a social networking service that enables users to send and read short messages called ‘tweets’, in fact, let’s call your company Twitter. So here you are about to release ‘Twitter’ to the entire world and it is down to you as the founder to send the first ‘tweet’. You have a limited number of characters as to which you can express yourself, this is not time for an essay or a mantra, after all, you designed the platform to be a thing of speed, short and snappy. You pull out your thumbs and tweet the words “Just setting up my twttr”. 10 years later you sell the NFT image of that tweet for $2.9 million.
If you take nothing away from this article, take away this ‘there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come’. It is my observation that though the business of NFTs has some way to go there is more than enough evidence to show that NFT’s time is coming and for many that time is now, so pay attention huns so you can be part of the conversation.
What are NFTs?
I’m going to make no assumptions and give you the starter pack of what an NFT is. At the very least here at It’s a Lifestyle Hun, we aim for you to have more exciting, creative and intellectual conversations so this will be a good one to throw up on a dry date.
NFT stands for ‘Non-Fungible Token’ the name also alludes to the characteristics of the product, the ‘non-fungible’ part alludes to the fact that NFTs cannot be swapped like in the way that banknotes or Bitcoin can (hence “Non-Fungible Tokens”). NFTs are digital assets containing “identifying information”; the information stored on the NFT is what makes a particular NFT unique, e.g the artwork or image it contains. Every NFT token is one of a kind and cannot be interchanged, replicated or duplicated.
Where do they live & What is OpenSea?
NFTs are issued on a blockchain, similar to a cryptocurrency. A blockchain allows the transaction history to be clearly recorded and in a format that cannot be edited or corrupted. NFTs can be used for digital assets that need to be differentiated from each other in order to prove their value or rarity and it is this recognition of its unique value that has borne witness to an explosion in NFT investment in the world of Sport, Art, Music and Digital Art.
You can’t talk about NFTs without mentioning the OpenSea, OpenSea is the world’s first and largest digital marketplace for crypto collectables and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Users purchase sell and trade NFT’s on the OpenSea website. There are many other platforms where NFTs are bought and sold we leave it to you to take your quest of these platforms further.
What is the use of NFTs?
The key with NFTs firstly is that even if you do not recognise their value there is always someone that does, after all the value of anything is determined by the individual. Let’s focus on the Art world for example, as we now understand NFTs can be anything digital and are able to store unique information, so an NFT holds value just like a piece of physical art. An artist can take the NFT image of their piece of art and this will be proof that they own the original artwork. Imagine a creative who cannot get their work across the globe physically but is able to trade the NFTs of their work on the NFT marketplace. Though the most popular artists often do get the attention, NFTs are a popular revenue stream for brands and emerging digital artists, once you have the original artwork the possibilities are endless.
NFTs and real estate
A 2021 Forbes article suggested that real estate is ‘the perfect asset to convert into a ‘Non-Fungible Token’ and having worked in real estate law for some time myself, I am in complete agreement. I believe that NFTs can become a useful tool not only in the real estate transaction process but also in the design process also. Many of us will know that a real estate transaction can be complex and often is susceptible to fraud, furthermore if you have an interest in purchasing real estate abroad, you will want the security that your information is securely stored.
As NFTs are able to store copious amounts of information that can prove ownership, they will be a useful tool in identifying true owners of land and real estate. The UK land registry is currently piloting conveyancing transactions using blockchain, therefore I believe we will see more of this in the attempt to streamline property transactions.
Secondly, in regards to luxury property, a recent £29 million luxury mansion known as Hampton hall was brought to market, however along with the physical property being sold, the developer offered the buyer rights of first refusal on an NFT containing the copyrighted blueprint and a virtual version of the mansion. What does this actually mean? The unique plans and virtual images of the Mansion were stored in an NFT token and sold to the buyer. Imagine designing a house from the ground up and being able to keep the entire plans and designs stored on a digital token as opposed to hoarding physical paper plans in your attic somewhere. You could take those plans and replicate the house abroad, trade the token to another developer, or even keep it as proof of your original ownership of your home! This option widens the investment that we have in our homes and for those of you planning to build your homes from the ground up whether in the UK or abroad, my humble advice would be to create an NFT of those design plans.
Practical steps to get more involved in NFTs
We refuse to leave you high and dry so some steps you can take is to visit the OpenSea login page and connect your crypto wallet, or if you do have some favourite artists perhaps buy an NFT to a corresponding piece of art that you actually like. Dip your toe in the digital water huns, you never know, you might be trading an NFT meme of yourself for millions one day.
