There are many possible applications of NFTs around the world, some of the most popular being for art and entertainment, which have seen paintings, tweets, memes, and even songs hit and sold as NFT. Probably one of its most interesting applications, however, is in the metaverse world.
A metaverse is a digital ecosystem through which people can meet and interact the same way they do in real life. As the world moves towards the adoption of Web 3, Metaavers are expected to play a much bigger role, as are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
How NFTs Work in Metaverses
Since metaverse works the same as the real world and involves the participation of real people, things like identity verification, asset transfer, and some sort of medium of exchange are needed. This is where NFTs come in because they provide all of this and more.
For example, an NFT conference dubbed NFT.NYC was held in New York in 2019, and conference entry was accessible through NFT-based invitations. The use of NFT for invitations also exists in metaverses, as several platforms such as LAND use NFTs to denote ownership of specific assets in the universe.
By now, the world is quite used to virtual events, and the access process can be made easier with a specific type of NFT called digital invite tokens. These tokens are NFTs created with the aim of acting as invitations to virtual events or not. Thanks to these, participation in events can be managed more efficiently and counterfeits can be eliminated from the market.
Many users are already familiar with metaverse game universes like Animal Crossing and Fortnite, and within these games, assets are traded all the time. NFTs have great potential for application in this context because an asset traded as an NFT has a greater guarantee of authenticity, and its transfer of ownership is recorded for all to see on a blockchain. Since metaverse often requires some sort of virtual economy to stay afloat, NFTs of tradable assets are extremely important.
As users interact more with the Metaverse, they can efficiently exchange assets both in real life and digitally using NFT, ensuring a seamless transition between the digital and physical economy.
Means of exchange
NFTs within Metaverse can also be the medium of exchange in the universe itself, as some of them exist as currency, especially in gaming applications. Games like Monsters Clan reward their players for completing tasks and challenges with NFTs, which essentially makes them a currency to themselves. If Metaverse becomes as used internationally as it is now, some sort of universal currency to unite all users will be needed, and NFTs could fill this gap. This is especially true when their connection to cryptocurrency is taken into account.
Finally, while NFTs can serve as a way for users to interact with Metaverse, they could also be the means by which they do so. One of the most important features of Metavers is that users use a virtual avatar to interact with the universe (much like a player would use a character to interact with a gaming platform). In reality, this too can be an NFT.
Take VAIL VR, an NFT based VR game developed by AEXLAB that works through users who buy VAILIENS animals, NFT in the game. Through these pets, users can participate in fights, challenges, races , etc. Owning the VAILIENS also offers a number of benefits, such as access to VAIL VR Alpha and Beta testing.
According to Jonathan Ovadia, CEO of AEXLAB, the idea of making the characters themselves NFTs is at the heart of the company’s mission to standardize their use.
“At AEXLAB, we dream that there should be a deeper alignment between the VR and cryptocurrency families. This is why we announced the drop in VAILIENS. They will be friends with our global VAIL players.
VAIL has already moved from a competitive multiplayer FPS to a social platform, where players can interact with each other and even create events. Owning VAILIEN can give a player the opportunity to become a member of an NFT holder club, which is even more exciting, ”says Jonathan.
