Introduction
The future of the metaverse is here. NFTs are revolutionizing the way we think about digital assets, how they’re stored and shared across the blockchain. We’re entering a new era where everything from real estate to collectibles can be represented by a token or coin on the blockchain. This represents a radical shift in how we create value in our digital world and what that means for gaming and beyond.
It’s hard to have a conversation about NFTs without hearing someone mention the metaverse.
You’ve probably heard about the metaverse. It’s a virtual world where people can immerse themselves in an alternate reality. It exists in a computer network and is created by the collective human imagination.
In theory, the metaverse will someday be available to everyone on earth — but it’s still a ways off from being realized as we know it today.
It can be hard to wrap your head around what the metaverse is.
You may be wondering how the metaverse is different from other virtual worlds. In order to understand the benefits of using NFTs in this context, it’s important to understand what exactly makes the metaverse different.
The metaverse is a kind of virtual world owned by everyone. Rather than being owned by one company or person, it belongs to everyone who participates in it—this includes every creator and user who participates in building and customizing their own unique avatar as they traverse through this interconnected space.
The most widely-used definition of the metaverse comes from the science fiction novel Snow Crash, written by Neal Stephenson back in 1992.
The most widely-used definition of the metaverse comes from the science fiction novel Snow Crash, written by Neal Stephenson back in 1992. In it, he describes a virtual world that exists as a network of virtual worlds. Today, this kind of metaverse is commonly referred to as a “MUD.”
In Stephenson’s novel, he imagines the MUD as being accessible through VR headsets like Google Glass and Oculus Rift (which are both still in development). However—and this is important—the MUD itself does not exist on any kind of device; rather, it exists as an interconnected system of different networks used for communication purposes.
In other words: The metaverse can only be accessed via computers connected to each other across national borders using wireless signals transmitted through satellites orbiting Earth’s outer atmosphere.
NFTs are digital assets stored on a blockchain ledger and are used to represent virtual or physical items like digital art and collectibles, real estate, sports cards, tickets and more.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets stored on a blockchain ledger and are used to represent virtual or physical items like digital art and collectibles, real estate, sports cards, tickets and more.
They can be thought of as a special type of cryptocurrency. Their value is derived from the scarcity of the token and its utility within an ecosystem that supports their purpose. For example, someone who owns 10 ERC-721 cats may have them all stored in their Ethereum wallet but wouldn’t be able to trade any single one for another user’s cat unless they had some kind of trading system built into their Ethereum wallet.
NFTs make it possible for digital assets to have real-world value since they’re backed by resources like Ethereum (ETH) or Bitcoin (BTC).
NFTs are digital assets stored on a blockchain ledger and are used to represent virtual or physical items like digital art and collectibles, real estate, sports cards, tickets and more.
NFTs make it possible for digital assets to have real-world value since they’re backed by resources like Ethereum (ETH) or Bitcoin (BTC).
You need an Ethereum wallet like MetaMask or Trust Wallet or Zapper to purchase NFTs or store your tokens.
- Ethereum wallet
An Ethereum wallet is an application or device that allows you to store, send and receive Ether. Ethereum wallets are usually only compatible with Ethereum and not other cryptocurrencies, unless it’s specifically made for multiple currencies.
- Ethereum address
An Ethereum address is a unique string of characters that you can use to access your account in the network. It’s a sequence of letters and numbers that begins with 0x (and ends with G). Each address has its own private key, which allows you to sign transactions on the blockchain. The public key can be used by anyone to send funds from their wallet to yours once they have exchanged their funds into ETH tokens first. In other words: this is how people pay for things on the internet nowadays!
- Account vs private key vs public key?
There’s also an opportunity for some crossover between popular video games and blockchain gaming.
There are plenty of blockchain games out there, and they include everything from collectible card games to strategy games. There’s also an opportunity for some crossover between popular video games and blockchain gaming.
For example, the game CryptoKitties was built on the Ethereum network, which makes it possible to buy virtual cats with cryptocurrency. To do this, you need to use smart contracts that make sure that you’re paying in a certain currency (Bitcoin or Ether) while also making sure that you receive exactly what you paid for—in this case, a digital cat! Some people have even made money off their CryptoKitties by selling them at auction or trading them with other players online.
And then there’s Fortnite: Battle Royale—the most popular battle royale game right now—which allows players to purchase cosmetic upgrades using V-Bucks (which are bought with real-world money). These can range from costumes or dance moves for your character up through emotes and dances that cost thousands of dollars each! As long as developers keep creating content like this in order to lure players into spending more money on these kinds of in-game purchases, we’ll see more hacks like those happening both here and abroad when it comes time for new revenue streams outside traditional models like advertising revenue sharing agreements or subscription fees;
The future holds a lot of promise for NFTs in gaming and collectibles
The future of NFTs and blockchain gaming is bright.
There are a lot of possibilities that haven’t been explored yet, but we’re sure to see more soon. Some of these include:
- The metaverse
- Collectibles in the real world
- Non-fungible tokens as a part of an existing game (like CryptoKitties)
Conclusion
We’re still in the early days of the NFT space, but there are already some exciting developments. For example, Cryptokitties helped popularize NFTs and blockchain gaming. But if you want to get a sense of what’s next for this technology, check out our article on upcoming blockchain games that we think will be big hits in 2019 (and beyond).
