NFTs have started making their way into the mainstream world in the last couple of years. They’ve become very popular with collectors and investors because they are a unique way to invest and store commodities.
If you’ve seen NFTs online then you likely know that one of their most popular uses is in art, like these NFT collections on Rarible. In fact, they are practically synonymous with images and gifs.
Many people do not even realize they can be used for much more. Jurgen Cautreels is an innovator in implementing NFT technology and a professional marketer and trader.
We interviewed Jurgen Cautreels to shed some light on NFT technology and what it can be used for beyond art.
Most people know that NFTs can be images and pieces of art, but can any other creatives utilize this technology?
Absolutely, I think any kind of creative person could find a use for NFTs. Since NFTs can store anything, they are a great place for creatives to store their creations.
NFTs allow them to create a single unique version of their creation. I think we will start seeing musicians minting their songs and albums and selling them as NFTs in the future.
It would be the equivalent of going to the store and buying a CD.
I’ve heard some videogames are using NFT technology, could you explain a little about how they might do this?
Yep, they sure are and that’s another place I think we’re going to see them. A lot of games that use NFTs are using them for in-game items that their players can purchase. Like a hat for example.
Normally in-game items are an unlimited resource every player can get, so they are not very rare, but thanks to NFTs these items will be completely unique and more valuable.
Are there any less fun and more serious ways that the average person may use NFTs?
Absolutely, the NFT market is already headed into that trajectory. One way I think we will see NFTs used in the future is in storing important documents. Think proof of ownership documents, college degrees, game tickets, and things of that nature.
NFTs are connected to one single person, so if you have your degree in the form of an NFT then you can show that it is 100% yours. While with normal documents, you have to trust someone else to store them for you if you ever need a copy, and trust that they will be honest.
What about businesses, could a business incorporate NFT tech into their everyday processes?
Off the top of my head, I can think of domain names and products. If your domain name is minted as an NFT then it is all yours forever until you decide to sell it.
You don’t have to worry about a third party keeping it safe for you. For products, it works the same way as artists and musicians, it makes your products more valuable because they are limited, and it expands your customer base to Ethereum users.
A lot of people have been into collecting baseball cards and other cards. Is there anything like this?
Well, there are already NFTs similar to baseball cards. There are some NFT developers that create collections, and there are people that love to complete collections of NFTs through purchasing or trading them.
There is also this fun thing called POAP, or Proof of Attendance. These are NFTs given out to people that participated in certain events either online or in person. They’re very cool, like a band giving out a limited edition T-shirt only available at a specific concert.