What’s all this fuss about NFTs?

NFTs or non-fungible tokens (‘fungible’ means interchangeable) are essentially digital assets that exist on a blockchain, like a record of transactions kept on networked computers, something akin to a public ledger. This record allows anyone to verify that they are authentic NFTs and also lets us know who owns them!

Each NFT has its own digital signature making it unique, unlike other digital items that can be copied multiple times if you want to.

These NFTs are usually bought using cryptocurrency or dollars and then this blockchain keeps a record of these transactions.

So, anyone can view NFTs but only the person who buys them is the official owner.

NFTs can be a digital object such as an image, video, music text or simply a tweet! NFTs can also be patches of land in a virtual world environment, digital clothing, or even an exclusive use of a cryptocurrency wallet name.

An example of the money these are fetching can be seen in the first tweet by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: “Just setting up my twttr”, which sold last year as an NFT for $2.9million.

Traded since around 2017, NFTs experienced a surge in popularity in early 2021, then had another explosive jump around August.

Sales volumes reached $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, according to data from market tracker DappRadar. (Showing an increase of 700% from the previous quarter).

This surge in NFTs might be in part due to the time people spent online during lockdown, some may see NFTs as possessions albeit in an virtual or inline environment, others might see this simply as an opportunity to ‘make a quick buck’.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the crypto industry……so get investing. (But don’t take my word for it!)

Paul Noone,

Dean, Faculty of Information Technology