Confused about NFTs? Here is what you need to know
It all started when a tweet by Jack Dorsey was sold for about 3 million Dollars or approximately 150 million ETB. And it's not only a tweet but also varied images, GIFS of cats, short moments of basket games, and so forth that are being purchased for unexpectedly large sums of money. And you're probably wondering why. NFT is the answer... So, what exactly is NFT? This will be the most important question I will attempt to answer in this piece.
To define NFT, I had to do a lot of research to make it intelligible. And it is challenging with all the different logics like cryptocurrency, blockchain, Ethereum, and so on, which are significant topics on their own. But give me a chance. NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. The next thing that comes to mind is the meaning of the word fungible. And let's simply define it as replaceable, which leads us to Non-Replaceable Token. Now, what does the token stand for? To explain that I have to touch on different topics so bear with me.
When you buy anything and pay with a credit card, what is happening is that the purchaser and the seller's bank are exchanging money after ensuring that the purchaser has enough money for the products purchased. Therefore, the banks are the intermediary that knows every detail about the transactions. However, the 2008 financial crisis in the United States gave birth to a logic known as Blockchain, the engine or system on which all cryptocurrencies (don't mumble, just take it as digital currencies) and NFT's are created. Blockchain records all transactions in a way that makes changing, hacking, or cheating the system difficult (if not impossible). It is also decentralized, which means that power and decision-making shift from a centralized entity like banks to a dispersed network (group of people). This new technology requires openness and responsibility, and it empowers its users. The purpose of this technology is to create a new monetary system that was not in the hands of a few who made choices behind closed doors, but rather a system that operated as a whole for everyone who invested and could be clearly monitored.