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Benny Giang, Co-Founder of FUTURE PRIMITIVE, joined a community call with Astar to share his experience connecting blockchain and art. A connection that brought us NFTs. He has vast experience in the space, co-authoring ERC-6551 and being a founding member of CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot with Dapper Labs.
Innovations like Token Bound Accounts (TBAs) are emphasized as being pivotal to the evolution of NFTs, enabling new functionalities and broader applications of NFTs beyond mere digital collectibles. The presentation compares the evolution of NFTs to the early web, envisioning a shift from static assets to dynamic, interactive entities known as "networked playable characters" (NPCs). Benny discussed current limitations in the NFT space, such as lack of utility, confusion around fungibility, and digital identity challenges. The future of NFTs is seen as more integrated, with increased utility, cross-chain interoperability, and deeper personalization.
Here we only highiight the most exciting parts of the call, but you can watch the entire 1-hour recording here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj6WpqV6LsU.
Evolution and Technical Breakdown of NFTs
Innovations like Token Bound Accounts (TBAs) are emphasized as being pivotal to the history and evolution of NFTs. Benny provides the historical backdrop, comparing the evolution of NFTs to the early days of the web. Initial websites were rudimentary, similar to early NFTs, and evolved into complex, interactive platforms. This comparison sets the stage for imagining the potential future trajectory of NFTs, from static assets to dynamic and interactive entities that could revolutionize digital interactions and ownership.
Delving into the components of NFTs, the presentation breaks down the structure into media files, metadata, and renderers, illustrating how future NFTs might incorporate more complex elements akin to modern websites. This section emphasizes a shift towards NFTs that are not just collectible items but functional and interactive digital assets.
Token Bound Accounts (TBA) The concept of Token Bound Accounts is introduced as a novel solution to extend the utility of NFTs beyond their current limitations. TBAs enable NFTs to own other NFTs and facilitate seamless cross-chain interactions, addressing issues of utility, interoperability, and functionality that have hampered the NFT space.
Identifying Current NFT Challenges
Benny outlines critical challenges in the NFT sector, which underscore the necessity for innovations like TBAs to enrich the NFT ecosystem with more practical and engaging use cases. Here are the three issues:
1. Lack of Inherent Utility: Many NFTs are seen as lacking inherent utility, being valued more for speculation than for practical use. This perception has led to an oversaturated market driven by hype, overshadowing potential real-world applications and challenging the NFT ecosystem to move beyond mere collectibility.
2. Confusion Around Fungibility: There is confusion about NFT fungibility, with attempts to fractionalize these inherently unique assets leading to misunderstandings. This confusion dilutes the uniqueness of NFTs and introduces regulatory challenges, straining the balance between liquidity and uniqueness.
3. Difficulties in Establishing True Digital Identity and Ownership: Verifying digital identity and true ownership through NFTs is difficult, limiting their potential as reliable proof of ownership or identity. The ease of misrepresenting NFT ownership online exacerbates this issue, complicating the establishment of trust within the ecosystem.
The Future of NFTs 1: NPCs and Cross-chain Interoperability
In the envisioned future of NFTs, these digital assets are expected to evolve from static collectibles to dynamic, interactive entities, often referred to as "networked playable characters" (NPCs). This transformation suggests that NFTs will gain broader utility, functioning as integral components of digital identity, social interaction, and online communities, and even acting autonomously within digital ecosystems.
Cross-chain interoperability The future also promises enhanced cross-chain interoperability, enabling seamless interactions across diverse blockchain platforms and fostering a unified digital experience. Personalization will become a key feature, allowing users to adapt and evolve their NFTs, thereby deepening their engagement within virtual communities.
Perma Project Case Study: Benny introduces Perma, a project exemplifying the innovative use of TBAs. In this scenario, digital film rolls serve as NFTs, capturing and storing images, which showcases the utility of NFTs as functional, interactive objects. This case study highlights the practical application of TBAs and opens the door to new forms of digital expression and record-keeping. Sign up for early access at: https://www.per.ma/
Demystifying the NFT Landscape: Final Thoughts
The session provided by Benny from Future Primitive was an informative and engaging overview of the NFT landscape, presented in both an approachable and easy manner. It effectively demystified the current state of NFTs and laid out a clear and optimistic vision for their future evolution especially with the Token Bound Accounts (TBAs), powered by ERC-6551, becoming the new paradigm.
The introduction of TBAs and the way they could be developed to be increasingly interoperable (TBAs) and opening up entirely new on-chain possibilities for networked playable characters (NPCs) was particularly enlightening. Those possible advancements offered a glimpse into the potential for NFTs to become more dynamic and integrated into the digital world with use cases found in Gaming, DAOs, Social Networks, and Fashion.
The session was overall enlightening, shedding light on the complexities of NFTs while remaining accessible to attendees, regardless of their prior knowledge of the subject.
Get Involved in the Future Evolution on NFTs
TEAMZ + Astar Hackathon: The theme of the main prize of $5000 is to make a consumer facing application on Astar, including creating cutting-edge use cases of the new ERC standards like ERC-6551 (Token Bound Account). Participation is welcomed from all around the world.
Check the details and sign up at: https://lu.ma/astar-teamz