NFTs - Marketplace and scalability via ERC-721

NFTs boom is currently of such magnitude, which recognized artists, illustrators, stars of musical firmament, and even, famous athletes such as the footballers Ronaldo and Messi, among others, have found in their use, a means, not only To generate large income, but they have also served as a showcase to expose their works and access new markets, practically non-existent a couple of years ago.

The NFTs have intrinsic characteristics that differentiate them from the tokens commonly employed as value reserves or as a means of payment to acquire goods or services. They are unique, unrepeatable and scarce, which affects its value, and makes them precious objects by investors and collectors around the world.

Its uniqueness resides that an NFT is different from any other, even when he can possess some common characteristics. They are not divisible or fractionable, that is, it is possessed in its entirety or simply does not have possession of it, and they are not interchangeable because they are digital representations of different physical assets.

These qualities have been exploited by the video game industry to provide your community the experience of acquiring items such as characters, costumes, weapons and lands, among others, and unlike traditional games, possessing the ownership of items, which They can employ during the game, or sell them in the markets in order to generate income.

On this occasion, we will continue with the discussion of the NFTs, introducing us in the study of the markets where these rarities are traded, which include from works of art to musical files, without forgetting memes.

NFT markets

They are online platforms where NFT sellers can present their collections of non-fungable tokens for sale. They work similarly to other trade websites, such as Amazon or free market, which serve as intermediaries among the creators of NFT and the public interested in acquiring them.

Currently there are many active NFT markets that sell from digital art to collection objects, without forgetting items longed by every person who identifies itself as a gamer.

OpenSea, is the platform that leads this sector and was the first to go out on the market, with records that exceed 80 million US dollars in transactions, only in March 2021. Its closest rivals, rarely recorded a figure higher than The US $25 million in the same month, although these figures have increased exponentially over the year.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) has been actively interested in the UNFT universe and for which they have been associated with Dapper Labs, the person responsible for Cryptokitties, with the purpose of capitalizing on the ascending market of Digital Sports Collectibles with the "Topshots "From the NBA. This support of one of the largest sports franchises of the United States, seeks to bring NFTs to new markets, beyond the community of cryptoentussies.

It is important to note that many of these platforms allow the creators to elaborate their creations and sell them.

The various NFT markets can be classified in the following four categories:

Open Markets: All those in which it is possible to find anything, from digital art to musical files, collectible items and for games, so they are open to anyone wishing to enter the NFT universe.

Selected markets: Unlike open markets, your NFT collections are more exclusive.

Collectibles markets: are those sets of NFT that have similar characteristics, that is, items made under the same style or pattern, although they differ in some aspects.

Game markets: Includes all NFT markets that are motivated by assets acquired or exchanged in the various games applications.

Token ERC-721

The TOKEN ERC-721 (Ethereum Request for Comments 721) is a type of Token created in the Blockchain Ethereum under the standards of its intelligent contracts.

The proposal for this new standard that seeks through the implementation of an API (application programming interface), the creation of non-fungible tokens, was presented by the William Entruken developers, Dieter Shirley, Jacob Evans and Nastassia Sachs at the end of the Year 2017.

A standard is nothing more than a template or format that other developers agree to follow, allowing coding to be easier, predictable and reusable. These standards are completely voluntary, but using a wide-ended standard, provides the advantage of greater compatibility with a wide variety of applications, including exchanges, dappps, wallets and others platforms.

This standard was designed with the purpose of creating interchangeable tokens but with the peculiarity of being unique and not fungible. In other words, each token is unique in all its existence and can not deteriorate, fraction or be destroyed, unlike the Tokens ERC-20.

The attractiveness of the Tokens ERC-721 lies in the empowerment of digital scarcity with the aim of taking advantage of the effect that limited product editions create, which allows it to be a collectable. Thanks to this, the value of a Token ERC-721 is given according to its rarity or uniqueness and the particularity of its characteristics, which makes it more appetizing in the eyes of future buyers or "collectors".

Among the main differences between the Tokens ERC-20 and ERC-721, the following should be highlighted:

Unlike the ERC-20 tokens, the ERC-721 are non-fungible tokens, which means that they can not deteriorate or destroy.

Another great difference between the Tokens ERC-721 and ERC-20, is that the Tokens ERC-721 are not divisible or fractionable, unlike the ERC-20 tokens.

One of the first examples of use of this type of Token, go back to the appearance of Cryptokitties and Decentraland, of which, probably the most remembered maybe it is the first for what it has meant.

DAPP Cryptokitties, is a game that allows players to buy, collect, raise and sell virtual cats, being one of the first attempts to implement Blockchain technology for recreation and leisure. The popularity that reached the game in December 2017, shortly after its launch, caused the congestion of the Ethereum network, which made it reach a historical maximum in the number of transactions and produced a significant slowdown in the platform.

Each kitten represents a Token ERC-721 and this has unique characteristics that differentiate it from any other. That is, a kind of digital mascot in a Blockchain. In addition, the game allows other actions among which, they stand out: to collect and acquire other cats with even more peculiar attributes.

In addition, by the characteristics described above, the NFTs have become the ideal means for digitizing and creating a whole market of digital art works, where the owner acquires a certification that accredits him as the unique and absolute owner of the original work.