All You Need To Know About Active NFTs
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are unique cryptographic tokens that exist as a permanent
record on a blockchain and cannot be replicated. They can be anything digital, such as
music, drawings, even your brain downloaded and turned into an AI). But have you ever
seen a living NFT? Living NFTs, also referred to as dynamic or active NFTs, according to
programmable features encoded by their developers, are non-fungible tokens that can
shift and mutate over time.
So how do these NFTs differ from your everyday regular NFTs? Based on different
conditions and situations, such as interactions with other non-fungible tokens or
external data –more commonly information from sources that monitor real-world data-
a living NFT’s metadata can be changed. Because of their digital form, NFTs would be
much more valuable and useful if they had the ability to change over time. Take
videogames for instance, we are used to ‘leveling up’ our characters all the time. Would
any of those armors, weapons, and virtual items in general, still be valuable if you could
not upgrade them? After all, it is something we yet do not have access to just as you
cannot upgrade a t-shirt, or a hat you have bought. But NFTs may be able to change
that.
Having said that, it is easier said than done.
First of all, countless millions of transactions must take place in order for an NFT to not
only be created, but also have the ability to constantly evolve. Right now, blockchains
are not fully ready to support these numbers.
Second, the asset creator has the ability to evolve an NFT’s state, which can be triggered
by multiple triggers, including the outcome of smart contracts or DAOs or in response to
real-world events. For this to happen, there has to be a transparent agreement between
creators and users, one that is certifiable on-chain and cannot be corrupted. But that
does not mean that blockchains can never achieve such thing. The first dynamic NFT was
created by artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, ahead of the U.S. Presidential election
in late 2020, which changed its appearance based on the outcome of the election. But
take Organic Growth’s project; 10,301 3D crystals that will turn into a physical sculpture
over time.
The world of NFTs is evolving every day, and once scaling is no longer an issue, the
possibilities are endless.
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