NFT'S may be added soon to POLKADOT thanks to KUSAMA, its canary network. Many of the present initiatives surrounding KUSAMA share a common goal of providing NFT'S on POLKADOT as soon as possible supporting applications in gaming as well as art and music. In fact, KUSAMA already supports NFT'S through a native application called 'Substrapunks' (launched on its own parachain called Unique Network) which is a spin off from the 'CryptoPunks game built on the PARITY Substrate framework.
Presently, the majority of the NFT market is found on the ETHEREUM Blockchain. But as we all know, ETHEREUM in its present state is highly congested resulting in exorbitant gas transaction fees troubling retail users driving them to search for alternative Blockchains. Enter KUSAMA to ease a great deal of the congestion by paving the way to cross chain utility (interoperability) and lower gas fees.
To facilitate this movement, developers (such as PARITY, KODADOT, MOONBEAM, etc.) have built the necessary Substrate based NFT technology required. Two of the tools developed are worthy of note: 1) the RMRK application was developed to provide a standardized procedure for the creation of NFT'S on the KUSAMA Relay Chain; and, 2. the KODADOT NFT Explorer which permits even non technical users the ability to create a marketplace for their NFT'S.
Finally, in addition to developing the required protocols for NFT'S, KUSAMA is actively promoting the burgeoning technology worldwide to artists, fans and collectors alike. Sponsored and organized by the KUSAMA Treasury, the first crypto art exhibition in the world, Virtual Niche, will commence on March 26, 2021 and run for 14 days in Beijing, China. Featured in this event are well known names in the NFT art world including Robert Alice and Beeple. As the event progresses, workshops on NFT art will be provided by the KUSAMA team. The event also hosts the introduction of CHIBA GALLERY, which is a digital art project built solely on the KUSAMA Network.
As such, with the continuing development and present availability of the tools necessary to implement the NFT initiatives of KUSAMA, and the active promotion of the technology, the current hype surrounding NFT'S soon may be found in the POLKADOT ecosystem. Relief from ETHEREUM'S ridiculously high gas prices are on the way.
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