Author: Perdana Karim
Editor: Amelinda Pandu Kusumaningtyas

For the past year, cryptocurrency investment has been a popular trend. People from all over the world have jumped on the hype train that is cryptocurrency. Besides the typical currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and memecoins such as Dogecoin, other form of cryptocurrency investments has emerged, and that is NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens. 

At this point the term NFT has been thrown around so much that it has become a trending keyword almost in every corner of the internet. While that may be good, surely this sudden rise in popularity raises some questions. Let’s discuss them 

Question 1: What are NFTs?

NFTs, much like its name suggests, means that it is a token that cannot be replaced at all. For example, if you 1 Bitcoin, that essentially equals to 1 Bitcoin. A fungible token means that said token can simply be replaced by many other tokens of the same, because no matter what they are essentially the same token, whether in terms of its item or the value of said item. Meanwhile, nonfungible token (NFT) means that said token is entirely unique. 1 NFT does not equal to 1 NFT per se. You cannot trade between NFTs because they inherently have different values. NFTs can range from many things, but artworks are most common. 

Question 2: So how does all of this work? What is so special about NFTs?

But that’s not where the real value of NFT lie. Some NFTs can be considered as badges or proof of membership to exclusive clubs. For example, the Bored Ape NFT. People who purchase and own said NFT automatically become members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Question 3: So, what’s the future for NFT like? 

We can’t really say for sure because NFT has only just begun, but what we can do is speculate. If we look at the current trends of NFT, its association with hustle culture, and living life through investment, NFT is most likely to stay for a while. But sadly enough, due to the pricing of NFTs itself, it could be hard for everyone to adopt or even use at all. Some people can’t justify the crazy prices that NFTs tend to be offered for, yet at the same time, these NFTs tend to also sell for crazy prices that make people just want to hop in with the hopes of making bank with them. 

Though that may be, we’ve seen now how oversaturated the NFT market has become. Due to its popularity, boasted by the success of Ghozali Everyday too, many people have tried their luck with NFTs. Copying Ghozali’s success, many Indonesians have attempted to replicate his formula. Ghozali became an overnight success due to his consistency in taking and selling his selfies as NFTs in OpenSea since 2017. Catching on the hype train, many Indonesians have flooded the OpenSea market with NFTs of their own. Ranging from pictures of traditional Indonesian foods, selfies, and even their own Kartu Tanda Penduduk (Indonesian identification card). This becomes an issue because not only is the market flooded with worthless NFTs, but also a breach of personal data too. A rather grim future for NFTs.

Although we can’t say for sure how the future of NFT will be like, we can look at the applicability of the blockchain itself! Today we start with ownerships over monkey jpegs through the blockchain, yet tomorrow we might be able to do so with house certificates! Proof of ownership that is transparent yet also secure and entirely unique to yours is what the future holds for blockchain! 

Question 4: I’m still not convinced about NFTs, it kind of sounds like a scam, doesn’t it?

Of course, this article isn’t here to convince you about NFTs. If anything, if reading this article makes you feel negative about it, it shows what stance you have towards NFTs, and aren’t we all entitled to our own opinion? But the takeaway of this is to understand that there is an amazing technology that is happening with NFTs as we speak, and that is the blockchain itself. A decentralized method of transaction that is crowdsourced is a fantastic concept to begin with. A concept and technology that has infinite applications when we really think about it. If anything, I’d argue that the application of blockchain used as a form of verification and identification of ownership will outlast the NFT hype and culture itself.

If you’re ever interested in hopping on the NFT hype train, it’s always best to ready yourself and understand what and how NFTs work. After all that, make sure you avoid scam NFTs, especially the Ponzi scheme types. It’s always best to use recommended sites such as OpenSea, for example. Always check first the NFT that you are going to purchase. See how much has been bought, their market price, and the credibility of the seller itself too. Always make sure that you’re not buying fake NFTs made from stolen artwork because it’d definitely would be a bad day if the NFT that you have invested all of your life savings on to suddenly be taken out of the market.

Most importantly, go in this wisely. Don’t buy NFTs that you can’t purchase. Understand how much you can spend on NFTs itself and never go bankrupt on purchasing any NFT. Sure, it may seem like it’s an investment now, but you can never be sure. It’s always best to be safe out there!

Want to learn more about NFT? Check our Bibliography right here!

 

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Adam Hayes, n.d. Blockchain Explained [WWW Document]. Investopedia. URL https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp (accessed 1.21.22).

AlexWGomezz, n.d. Why Are NFTs So Valuable? Cyber Scrilla. URL https://cyberscrilla.com/why-are-nfts-so-valuable/ (accessed 1.21.22).

Clark, M., 2021. People are spending millions on NFTs. What? Why? [WWW Document]. The Verge. URL https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq (accessed 1.21.22).

Tasatanattakool, P., Techapanupreeda, C., 2018. Blockchain: Challenges and applications, in: 2018 International Conference on Information Networking (ICOIN). Presented at the 2018 International Conference on Information Networking (ICOIN), pp. 473–475. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICOIN.2018.8343163