NFTs, explained: what they are and why theyre suddenly worth millions
Pictures of apes have sold for tens of millions of dollars, there’s been an endless supply of headlines about million-dollar hacks of NFT projects, and corporate cash grabs have only gotten worse. There’s nothing like an explosion of blockchain news to leave you thinking, “Um… what’s going on here? ” That’s the feeling I’ve experienced while reading about Grimes getting millions of dollars for NFTs or about Nyan Cat being sold as one. Non-fungible tokens are commonly ERC-721 tokens on Ethereum’s blockchain. Unlike ERC-20 Ethereum tokens, ERC-721 tokens each have a distinct value. Since each NFT holds its own value, they can’t be exchanged for one another like normal cryptocurrencies. The creator of an NFT gets to decide the scarcity of their asset. Or, you can hold it forever, resting comfortably knowing your asset is secured by your wallet on Ethereum. You can sell it, and in some cases this will earn the original creator resale royalties. Each token has an owner and this informati