What Can Make an NFT More Than an NFT

It’s safe to say that 2021 was an NFTs(non-fungible tokens) dominated year. What started with EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS by the digital artist Beeple being sold at Christie’s for $69m, turned into almost anyone with an audience minting their own NFTs. And a lot of them were sold – including NFT toilet paper. 

In April however, the market for NFTs bottomed out as quickly as it had built up. One of the main reasons behind this drop in perceived value was just that; a lack of perceived value on the back of a bubble. With many getting into space through celebrity endorsed NFT launches, a definite lack of utility for all but the most collectible assets were starting to be felt.

Undoubtedly, NFTs provides an innovative solution for creators and artists to sell to fans and investors alike. However, there are some who wonder whether more was achievable; beyond their scarcity. This was a question that Charged Particles set out to answer.

How do you make an NFT, more than an NFT?

The technology running through the protocol allows it to superpower NFTs to become containers for a whole host of useful utilities. By creating a wrapper around an NFT, users are able to insert any ERC-20, 721, or 1155 Token inside it. These can be social tokens, other NFTs, or even yield-bearing DeFi assets. Thanks to Charged Particles’ Aave integration.

This opens up a whole host of possible use cases for NFTs which were simply not possible before. The collectible nature of these tokens is still front and center, but the ability to further increase scarcity through bundling additional assets could really open up this asset class to a significantly wider appeal.

What’s more, being able to add an interest-bearing token such as DAI could be a real game-changer. Imagine being able to buy a limited edition NFT from your favorite creator, which is already earning yield from the moment it gets minted. This adds real, tangible value to the existing speculative value held by many NFTs.

What are some possible use cases for this technology?

DeFi – Adding any interesting-bearing token to an NFT creates a “charged particle” – with the interest generated supplying the charge. With customizable time-locks, and programmable yield delivering the infinite ability for creativity. This creates some really interesting possibilities to add multiple yield-bearing tokens inside one charged NFT – each with a varying degree of risk. A kind of token index fund if you will. 

Creators – Artists and creators have the opportunity to further increase scarcity and collectability by adding unique NFTs or social tokens to new pieces of art. What’s more, they can better monetize their work beyond the initial sale value by adding interest-bearing tokens into the mix. The ability to control, split and share yield from these charged NFTs could provide ongoing passive income for the life of the token; or provide a Patreon style way for fans to sponsor their favorite artists.

Gaming – We are already seeing strong adoption of NFTs within the crypto gaming space however, their utility is still mainly based around in-game power-ups or specific virtual land. Imagine being able to hold and trade virtual land portfolios on a single NFT, or own a unique character or weapon from a game that increases in power over time based on yield. 

Bringing the real world on-chain – Creating a global marketplace for real-world art could be a big deal for many artists, galleries, and museums. Collectors from around the world can exclusively acquire a new piece of art (such as the latest piece by American oil painter Alexandra Grounds), by tokenization through Charged Particles. Once again, the ability for artists to include interest-bearing tokens could provide galleries and museums with ongoing future revenue by specifying yield recipients. 

Conclusion 

It’s clear that the question of how to add real utility to NFTs might get answered. With over $1M in yield-multiplier, NFTs already sold, and the recent sale of “Pandora’s Box” (an NFT featuring the work of 10 top-selling digital artists) recently sold for 42 ETH, Charged Particles is making the case to be the tip of the spear when it comes to broadening the appeal of NFTs.

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