NFTs: 5 Profitable Use Cases in Business in 2021

  • September 5, 2021

NFTs: 5 Profitable Use Cases in Business in 2021

As nonfungible tokens acquire mainstream popularity, many potential investors worry if they are a blessing or a bubble. Because NFTs appear to have a wide range of applications, real-world examples, and use cases are critical in determining their worth, long-term viability, and future.

NFTs, or digital tokens of virtual and real-world assets, can theoretically be applied to any object. NFTs offers a new way of producing money by digitizing assets, monetizing intellectual property, and validating the validity of real assets on the internet, despite its developing pains as a technology and a financial instrument. They’re being used more and more to verify the authenticity of certain rare, precious, and pricey artifacts.

Both buyers and sellers should approach with caution as the market develops. Although the extensive application of NFTs has yet to materialize, proponents of the technology claim that the groundwork is being prepared for more widespread adoption.

According to Evin McMullen, co-founder of Serto, a Consensys firm, when NFTs go through their ups and downs, the main barrier to adoption is usability, not technology. “We need to improve the user experience for business users and individual customers to make it more relevant, simple, and entertaining,” she said.

Business Use cases for NFTs

In the arts and entertainment realms, NFTs have gotten a lot of attention and have become a reality. However, many real-world corporate use cases are still in the early stages, ranging from licensing and certifications to real estate to supply chain management and logistics.

  • Documentation, certification, and identification

Although personal identity management is an area where NFTs might shine, this type of application is still in its infancy. NFTs can be used to tokenize documentation such as degrees, academic certificates, licenses, and other qualifications, as well as medical records, birth, and death certificates because they contain code with a unique set of information. The identity or certification can be granted as an NFT, which can be traced back to the owner, directly on the blockchain. As a result, using NFTs to store and secure medical histories, personal profiles, education, and address information digitally provides users more control over their data and can help prevent identity theft.

In the future, a similar approach may be used for driver’s licenses or passports. While NFTs have the potential to reduce forgeries of driver’s licenses, visas, and passports, the technology’s features — which might include a mobile app — have yet to be ironed out.

The use of NFTs for vaccine passports is a related application. San Marino has stated that it will use NFT COVID-19 vaccination passports. The tokens will aid in the authentication of papers and the reduction of counterfeits.

  • Ownership of a domain name

Owners of blockchain domains can use private keys to control their domains. The standard domain name service (DNS) is controlled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and these domains are subject to little monitoring. There are issues regarding censorship and security as a result of this. These issues are alleviated by the fact that blockchain domain names are permanently registered in a public registry and cannot be erased or altered by a third party.

NFTs for blockchain domains allow for quick trade as well as custom domain names. Decentralized alternatives to the regular DNS, such as the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains, provide crypto-addresses that are akin to an Instagram or Twitter handle, but each name must be unique. ENS and Unstoppable Domains enable users to buy and sell crypto-addresses, although Instagram and Twitter users are not permitted to sell their usernames. The pricing of the more well-known names is greater.

  • In the Field of Real Estate

In both the virtual and real worlds, NFTs have applications for selling digital real estate. Digital real estate applications are gaining popularity in games like Decentraland in the virtual world. In a virtual world, participants can construct and buy territories. The original creators and owners of the objects can be recognized when using NFT.

The digital “Mars House,” which depicts a residence walled in glass and encircled by neon lights, is another example of virtual real estate. Although the “house” sold for $500K, the owner is unable to visit it because it is virtual. Other instances of virtual real estate include a Twitter account dedicated to selling virtual properties and the purchase and sale of real estate in virtual role-playing games such as Superworld.

NFTs representing virtual real estate is traded on NFT marketplaces in more efficient and transparent transactions than real-world real estate transactions. Rather than using a traditional deed or title, virtual real estate ownership is documented on a decentralized ledger through an NFT. Holders own their digital possessions in perpetuity.

While there are countless examples of virtual real estate sales, NFT applications in real-world real estate are still in their infancy. Using NFTs and blockchain in the real world in the future could be a cost-effective approach to check titles and validate ownership histories. However, this type of application creates security risks. Although blockchain makes NFTs more secure, they can still be hacked. Other difficulties must be resolved. If a private key to a blockchain asset is missing, for example, access to the asset may be lost.

  • Art, high-end brands, sports, and athletics, and other mementos

Collectibles, art, gaming, and virtual reality are among the most popular uses for NFTs. Cryptopunks, which are algorithmically created 24 X 24-pixel art pieces, and Cryptokitties, a virtual game, are two early application cases. Here are some more examples:

  1. In March 2021, an NFT collage by digital artist Beeple sold for $69 million.
  2. A digitized representation of a New York Times column was sold for $560,000 in cryptocurrencies at a charity auction.
  3. The installation of NFTs on Bluebox, Ditto Music’s blockchain platform, allows for the purchase of song shares.

Other items, including sports tickets, are also being tokenized. “Moments,” a digital collectible sold on the NBA Top Shot platform, is an example of a sports digital collectible. Video footage of the player performing a move or the NBA’s Top Shot, a blockchain-based trading card system that delivers game highlights, are examples of moments.

The capacity to provide digital verification of their legitimacy and ownership is crucial to crypto-art and other entertainment applications. NFTs can enable authentication in markets plagued by counterfeiting and fraud, such as art, luxury goods, and other collectibles.

NFTs for art and other applications cannot be altered or reproduced, which lets artists commercialize their work and prevents plagiarism and creative theft. NFTs also provide digital art the traits of being unique and uncommon, just like tangible art. They can be traced back to an artist or seller’s beginnings. They also allow anyone to view the selling price as well as the number of times the artwork has been sold.

The prevention of fraud and plagiarism is also crucial in the media and film industries, which are still emerging markets for NFTs. Files can be appended to the blockchain as an NFT to prevent them from being copied or shared without owners’ permission.

  • Logistics and supply chain

Authenticating products, assuring their quality, and validating their provenance are the primary functions of NFTs in the supply chain. NFTs on the blockchain are suited for logistics applications because of their immutability and transparency, which keeps supply chain data valid and dependable, despite their early stages. Knowing where items have gone and for how long is critical in the food and other perishable industries.

NFTs, help to prevent counterfeiting, track the movement of items across the supply chain, and ensure that each item is unique. This would apply to luxury fashion businesses’ supply chains. NFTs can also provide information about each material and component in a product for firms like the auto industry. This could aid in cost-cutting. In addition, industries that want to track the use of recyclable and sustainable materials could employ NFTs.

Movine Oduor
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