The market for NFTs or non-fungible tokens has seen unprecedented growth in 2024, with trading and transaction volumes in the third quarter reaching over $10.67 billion, according to data from research and statistics platform DappRadar – an increase of over 38,000% compared to the previous year. In August, OpenSea NFT, also considered to be the first and largest NFT marketplace, recorded a trading volume of over $70 million in just a single day – more than its entire transaction and trading volume in 2024.
Meanwhile, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have started trading for million-dollar price tags. On March 11, 2024, digital artist Mike Winkelmann, or simply Beeple, sold a single NFT art for $69.3 million at an auction at Christie’s auction house, taking him into the category of the third most expensive living artist in history. NFTClub has listed several of the top traded NFTs.
Other NFTs of digital artworks such as CryptoPunks, Art Blocks and Bored Apes have also traded for millions of dollars on NFT markets, and traditional arts institutions such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses.
What are non-fungible tokens (NFTs)?
NFT stands for non-fungible token. It is a digital asset connected to a smart contract, usually from the Ethereum blockchain, that serves as a secure digital property record or certificate of authenticity for tangible and intangible items.
How do NFTs work?
Most NFTs work on the standards of ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Unlike the ERC-20 standards also on the Ethereum network, each of the ERC-721 tokens has a different and unique value. Because each NFT or non-fungible token has its own value and price, they cannot be exchanged with each other like cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (Ether). Because of this, NFTs act more as a form of authentication or proof of authenticity of real-world assets or digital files to create digital scarcity than exchange or payment tokens.
Because NFTs are digital assets that contain information recorded in blockchains or decentralized smart contracts protocols, this metadata makes each NFT unique, and they are especially suited to registering or tokenizing and tracking ownership of assets, such as rights to an image or virtual plots, for example.
Almost any digital file can be tokenized as an NFT – digital art, short films, short video, domain names, virtual farms, land or real estate, game items such as avatars or coins, sports collectibles, and digital objects from virtual reality platforms where users can build and rule alternative worlds or “metaverses.
Although the Ethereum blockchain was the first home of the NFT ecosystem, non-fungible tokens are also expanding on other blockchains, including Flow, WAX, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and Tezos.
Today, most NFTs are bought and sold with Ether (ETH), the native currency of the Ethereum network.You can buy or sell ETH in US dollars, euros, or British pounds on cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.
Can you buy NFT?
It is an extremely easy and simple process to buy an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet or an Ethereum wallet and have Ether (ETH) deposited in it. Most NFTs are digital works of art, and are often sold through auctions, although other NFTs are available at fixed prices. Therefore, you will have to make a bid or offer for the NFT and hope to be the winner to have the NFT transferred to your Ethereum address. Some NFT sites like OpenSea also offer the option to buy the NFT for a price set by the NFT artist or creator.
WePlay Collectibles is a project of NFTs that aims to create a community and unite true eSports fans and talent, as well as artists and digital art enthusiasts. Our project is for people who want to be part of eSports events and show that they like players and talent in a different way, beyond merchandising. Now we become part of a platform, where you can buy items with NFT technology – not only physical and digital eSports memorabilia items related to a specific tournament, but also works related to contemporary art.
How do I start buying NFTs?
NFTs: How to buy
1. Buy Ethereum (Ether)
Ethereum is the largest NFT token ecosystem, and most NFT marketplaces for these digital collectibles only accept Eth or Ether tokens as payment. If you already have an account with a cryptocurrency exchange buy ETH on it, if not, you can buy ETH on Coinbase or Binance and transfer your cryptocurrency to your MetaMask wallet – which is the default Ethereum wallet for most Ethereum blockchain apps and platforms.
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Connect your crypto wallet to a platform or NFT Marketplace
There are thousands of marketplaces or websites to buy and sell NFTs. The largest marketplaces for NFTs include OpenSea, Rarible, Foundation, and SuperRare, and depending on the marketplace you choose, these sites host a wide variety of NFTs, but each platform operates with its own rules and guidelines.
How can I create an NFT token?
You don’t need to know how to write programming code, make an ERC-721 token, or have any experience with blockchain to create your own NFTs. Creating and selling NFTs are extremely simple and easy processes to do. All you need to do is create a digital wallet (Metamask, Trust Wallet or Coinbase Wallet) and create an account on an NFT market (Rarible, SuperRare, OpenSea or Foundation) to later upload the digital file you want to turn into a new NFT.
Most popular NFT marketplaces to buy or sell NFTs
For digital artists and content creators, NFTs offer a new decentralized marketplace where they can better monetize or sell their work and create an automated and secure way to recover revenue from digital sales through royalty agreements. On the other hand, other people may see NFTs as a way to financially support artists or add more items to their digital art collections.
These are the 10 top NFT platforms:
1. SuperRare
SuperRare is a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace that focuses exclusively on buying and selling 1/1 or single edition digital artworks. To join this platform you will need to fill out a form, submit your portfolio and wait for approval. All transactions (creation or minting, buying and selling, or transfers of NFTs from one wallet to another) are done using the Ether token.
Category: Digital Art
2. Foundation
Foundation is the NFT site that hosted NFT sales of the popular internet meme Nyan Cat, and the artwork of Edward Snowden. The artworks are available for sale at reserve price, and you can bid on artwork. The auctions last for 24 hours. If you want to create and sell or buy an NFT artwork, you will need to connect your Metamask wallet. ETH is the default payment token.
Category: Digital Art
3. Mintable
Mintable is a marketplace for buying and selling NFTs that has become increasingly popular among NFT creators. Powered by the Ethereum and Zilliqa blockchains, the site has made MetaMask, as one of the default crypto wallets. Art creators have options to create “no gas” NFTs, i.e. “no Ethereum gas fees” i.e. free of charge. Here buyers can buy the listed collectibles or bid on auctions, and auction winners are notified by email.
Categories: Digital Art, Photography, Videos, Games, Domain Names
4. OpenSea
OpenSea is a marketplace for NFTs that has become very popular for hosting a variety of digital collectibles, from digital artwork to video game items and metaverses. MetaMask is the default wallet, and ETH is the default payment token. Once you have connected your wallet, you are ready to start minting NFTs, browsing the market, and bidding!
Categories: Digital Art, Music, Games, Domain Names, Virtual Worlds, Sports, Collectibles
5. NBA Top Shot
NBA Top Shot is the digital property of the NBA, North America’s largest basketball league, and the platform allows fans to collect and trade digital “moments” from the league in the form of NFT digital tokens. The NFTs are limited edition packages, and prices range from $9 to $499. The moments contain short videos, player statistics, and box scores. Users or collectors can display their NFT collection, follow their favorite teams, and trade digital assets based on the Flow blockchain.
Categories: Digital Sports Merchandise, Trading Cards
6. Venly
Venly ‘s is a peer-to-peer (P2P) NFT marketplace , which is still in beta, but allows connected users to create, buy NFTs or sell game characters, weapons and collectibles. Users can link their digital wallets on the platform to buy and sell blockchain-based game assets such as The Sandbox, Vulcan Verse, and Ethermon. The site also allows payments in US dollars via PayPal.
Categories: Video Games, Metaverse
7. Nifty Gateway
Nifty Gateway is a centralized marketplace owned by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, which partners with artists and big brands to create Nifties – a term used on the site to refer to NFTs. Sales are made in “drops,” and NFT collections are made available every three weeks. Once you have purchased an NFT, you can easily sell it through the site’s peer-to-peer marketplace. The platform also allows you to connect a credit or debit card for transactions.
Category: Digital Art
8. Zora
Zora functions as a decentralized online auction house, with a philosophy of allowing artists to recoup their revenue that record labels, galleries and big brands take from artists or art creators as a commission for services and content distribution. Buyers and collectors of digital items can find and buy music, video, images, GIFs, and text NFTs through Ethereum wallets such as MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or WalletConnect.
Category: Digital Art
9. Rarible
Rarible is an NFT marketplace that allows users to create or mint, buy and sell digital art or trade NFT digital collectibles ranging from GIFs, and animated videos, DeFi (decentralized finance) to Punks. Rarible is about to become a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), with its governance token known as RARI. RARI tokens are distributed to the most active buyers and sellers and allows them to vote on platform updates.
Categories: Digital Artwork, Photography, Music, Games, Metaverse, Memes
10. MakersPlace
MakersPlace is a digital art gallery featuring a wide range of NFTs ranging from short films, motion graphics, images of mythical gods, reimagined statues, and images of moonscapes. Art creator profiles, easily verified and tracked digital ownership records, and searchable tags make the platform easy to use. Art pieces can be purchased through digital auction systems or fixed price sales, using Ether coin or a credit or debit card.
Categories: Digital Art, Virtual Reality, Short Film, Motion Animation
Conclusion
NFTs today are most commonly used to sell digital artwork and digital trading cards or collectible items. In the future, NFTs tokens can be used to tokenize any real-world asset that has not yet been tapped today, which can facilitate asset ownership transparency.
