NFT, web3, blockchain are the new buzzwords as of late 2022 all over the web. What exactly are NFTs, web3 & blockchains? NFT stands for non-fungible (unique & without a substitute) token. On the contrary, a dollar bill is fungible. So is a coin, or a piece of clothing at the department store. All those items are fungible, meaning you can just swap them out with another of the same thing. A non-fungible token then is a token with the likes of a digital certificate of authenticity, stored permanently on the blockchain. The blockchain provides provenance and a concrete, set-in-stone record proving ownership of a digital asset. The NFT is a file or files and their associated metadata & media stored in a serialized, secure, transparent, and decentralized manner on the network. The network itself it a series of blocks (think of a linked list) where the preceeding block contains a pointer to the next block. Every blockchain's structure is unique to that blockchain. The implementation of the data structure varies form chain to chain. There are many different blockchain networks: Bitcoin, Etherium, Polygon, Solana, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Optimism, Algorand to name a few. Although the data structure may vary, every node has a copy of the same data. In this way, the data is stored in a decentralized way. Decentraliazed data, meaning there is not one central organization as a source of trust (like your bank) on the network, means every node on the blockchain must come to a a consensus about the correct and most current state of the chain and ledger of transactions. There exists several different consensus mechanisms (Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, etc.) to verify transactions and agree on the order of the blocks. In case of any conflicts, they must all agree which information may be erroneous, fraudulent or extraneous. In summmary, all blockchains must have a consensus mechanism in place, and they all share a decentralized network and data structure and all blockchains store on-chain data in the form of tokens. What is a token? So what is an NFT? What about DeFi? A NFT is a digital asset stored on the blockchain, which may or may not (ERC-6551) own other digital assets. NFTs are structured based on specifications unique to each blockchain. On the Etherium blockchain NFTs are supported with the ERC-721, ERC-1155 and the new ERC-6551 specifications. On most blockchains assets are structured and controlled by a smart contract that has an on-chain address (wallet). A wallet is just a cryptographically derived address and associated public and private keys capable of interacting with smart contracts (calling functions, reading and writing date) that are stored on the blockchain. Remember that all the information on the blockchain is immutable, so smart contracts can act as custodians of assets (digital currency) in the form of tokens, non-fungible tokens and decentralized applications. DeFi is short for decentralized Finance and includes decentralized apps (dApps) that can aggregate tokens and offer margin trading, liquidity, and investment vehicles. NFTs have unlimited potential and use cases, your imagination is the only constraint:
- The ticket to an event or concert, your NFT is the actual ticket
- A digital piece of artwork, your NFT proves ownership and provenance
- An asset in a role playing game that is stored as an NFT (e.g. a gun or weapon) and saved in your wallet for use in-game.
- A digital collectable
- Important photos and media which you want to save forever (data on the blockcahin is immutable and will be there forever).
- An album or song that a recording artist releases only in the form of an NFT.
There are literally unlimited possiblities when it comes to NFTs and dApps. Developers are coming up with new ways to use the technology every day. NFTs are versatile and possibly the best technology to come out of the age of WiFi. NFT marketplaces are already a multi-billion dollar industry. There are many, many websites which allow you to develop NFTs, DeFi and dApps which allow you to read and write data to the blockchain using abstracted SDKs available in Javascript, Go, Python and other high-level programming languages. Many of these websites use JSON/RPC and REST APIs that allow developers to quickly interact with the blockchain using abstracted methods.
most of web3 development comes down to a matter of preference. Using one site over another or using one blockchain over another. Our implementaions of NFTs, wallets, DeFi, and dApps make the world of web3. One thing that is easy to forget is that you are a member of a vast community of other developers with eons of experience and wisdom ripe for the picking. As a developer, it is our solemn duty to be a team player. The world of web3 wasn't built by one man alone. Remember, there is never such a thing as a stupid question; if you need help, ask. Closed mouths don't get fed. Thats an article for another day though. Zen code developers, Steven out.
