One of the most popular use cases of blockchain technology, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), are widely used to display and trade ownership of real and digital objects and intellectual property. But what are NFTs used for and what blockchains support NFTs? This article will show you the answer.
What are NFTs used for?
NFTs are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenize things like art, collectibles, even real estate. Ownership of an asset is secured by the Ethereum blockchain – no one can modify the record of ownership or copy/paste a new NFT into existence. NFT stands for non-fungible token.
What blockchains support NFTs?
1. Ethereum
Despite mounting competition, Ethereum remains the most popular NFT blockchain. The reasons are abundant: as a highly decentralized blockchain, it provides all the financial and legal services one typically needs for transactions without requiring intermediaries. It also houses some of the most popular NFT marketplaces, NFT projects, and NFT artists.
2. Solana
Founded in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana was built to solve the high costs and slow transaction speeds common in blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin. When it arrived on the scene, blockchains were severely limited in their processing capabilities and could only handle roughly 15 transactions per second (TPS).
Solana is also one of the fastest programmable blockchains in the crypto space. Its unique combination of proof-of-history (PoH) and proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms remove the need for the complex cryptographic puzzles that power PoW mechanisms. PoH is a computational process that can cryptographically verify the passing of time between two events in the blockchain, which reduces validation times and fees. In terms of the Solana blockchain, it’s used to ensure that transactions are in the right order and found by the correct leader (validator).
3. Tezos
Founded in 2017 by Kathleen and Arthur Breitman, Tezos is an open-source platform for assets and applications. Like other blockchains, it enables the creation of smart contracts and the building of decentralized applications (dApps). Tezos’ native token is XTZ. While the chain is popular with regard to NFTs, its crypto ranks around 40th in terms of market cap. But Tezos’ selling point has always been innovation, not market dominance.
One of the things that makes the Tezos blockchain unique is its ability to self-amend. This means it can improve itself over time via a formalized protocol upgrade process. Coupled with the fact that Tezos has long incentivized developers to build dApps on the platform, the chain is seen as a major leader in operability. Tezos is a great place to start for those looking to mint batches of NFTs or large-scale collections. Currently, Objkt is the largest and most popular marketplace on the Tezos chain.
4. Flow
Flow is a high-performance blockchain designed specifically for creating NFTs, games, and decentralized apps (dApps). In stark contrast to general-purpose blockchains like Ethereum, Flow is built with scalability in mind, meaning billions of people could potentially interact with NFTs on the blockchain.
Originally launched in 2019, Flow quickly rose to prominence as the blockchain partner of the NBA. A product of Dapper labs (the team behind legacy project CryptoKitties), Flow facilitated the launch and is the host of NBA Top Shot, making the blockchain an integral component in the popularization of non-fungible tokens.
5. Worldwide Asset Exchange (WAX)
The Worldwide Asset Exchange (WAX) has become a network of choice for digital collectibles and virtual items. As historic NFT sales and viral collections on Ethereum, Tezos, and Solana made headlines over the years, WAX has built a reputation for being a home for Web3 gaming.
6. Binance Chain (BNB)
Formerly two separate chains — Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Binance Chain — Binance rebranded to BNB Chain in February 2022 with the aim of fostering innovation in the network and moving toward greater decentralization.
What are NFTs used for? What blockchains support NFTs? You must've found the answer.
