Are you a crypto freak or someone into blockchain technology? Then obviously, you’ve heard about NFTs, the new sensation of the crypto market. Even if you are not aware of it, no issues, keep reading, and you will get a clear picture of what these NFTs are, what all they can do, and why they have been celebrated by everyone. In addition to this, we will also see what these NFTs are doing in the supply chain market.
What Are NFTs?
NFT is the abbreviation for non-fungible tokens; these are tokens built on a blockchain like Ethereum. These tokens cannot be exchanged or divided. They are a digital representation of unique assets in the digital or real world. To make it more clear, let’s take the example of a Mona Lisa painting; it is one of a kind, there may be some duplicates, but owning the original one is always a privilege also you can’t split the ownership of a painting, it is the same for an NFT you cannot split it.
Peerless Features Of NFTs
NFTs is the term you hear wherever you turn, so what makes them so special? To know why we must dive deep and view the core traits NFTs possess.
Rareness
Anything of mammoth value is most rare. Let it be a painting of Van Gogh or diamond. The value of these is highly dependent on the rareness of it. Thereby making the owner feel more special than owning anything that everyone has or can have. NFTs are rare; this scarcity of NFTs has skyrocketed their demands.
Uniqueness
“One of a kind” is a term that can make people raise their eyebrows innately; that is how prestigious we humans consider a unique item. The luxury market has been thriving upon all these years on this trait. Let it be art, fashion, or hospitality; the one of a kind experience is what makes them luxurious. NFTs come naturally with this feature of being unique. Every NFT is a unique one or, to be more clear, a “one of a kind”.
Indivisible
Unlike any other asset, you can’t divide an NFT. You either own it whole, or you don’t own it at all. You can’t share the ownership of an NFT with any others. This indivisibility trait of NFTs is the icing on the cake.
Recent Happenings That Made NFTs The Talk Of The Town
Apart from the matchless features of NFT, the recent happenings in the NFT market have elevated the buzz around it. Digital art by an artist who goes by the name Beeple was sold for a mammoth price of $69 million. The first tweet of the Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey that read “just setting up my twttr” was sold for a whopping $2.9 million. A single tweet minted to an NFT has made this wonder happen.
A trading card in football representing Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé (signed for €180 million). Another digital collectible named crypto punk has been sold for $7.6 million. All these wouldn’t have happened without NFTs. There have been even speculations that people have started buying digital collectibles irrespective of the magnificence in the art. The answer to why all this anxiety is nothing but the pride in owning something that no one else could and the security offered by blockchain technology.
NFTs In The Supply Chain Market
The supply chain market is the predominant sector that acts as a medium between the manufacturing sector and its customers. This is the sector that carries all the manufactured products from one corner of the world to a customer in the other corner of the world.
Over the years, the immense growth of logistics and supply chain has flourished the trade between nations. If you just see the numbers behind the logistics industry and come to a final decision that it has no shortcomings, then you are miserably wrong. The shortcomings faced by the logistics and supply chain industry are numerous, and there haven’t been any solutions before NFTs.
Yes, NFTs are no more just digital creations that get sold for skyrocketing prices. The potential of NFTs are far beyond just digital arts, and the logistics and supply industry is one of the forerunners to realize it. Let’s have a look at the current issues faced by the logistics industry and how NFTs for the supply chain market can resolve them.
Traceability Factor
One factor that has been the fire right under the chair of the logistics industry is traceability. Tonnes of different kinds of goods and values are traded between nations and within nations. While this trade takes place, tracing each and every good has been a challenge, as they are all documents and verifying these documents is a tedious process. Errors may happen while documentation of the stocks or at the receiving end of the stocks, but how can this be rectified.
Remember, NFTs, with their unique and transparent trait, can be the solution for this traceability factor when the data of each and every good and transaction is minted to a blockchain as an NFT. Anyone can check the people it has been transferred with, and obviously no loss of data at any stage.
Scalability Factor
Not all industries have the privilege to ship off their products and not worry about anything else except for the payment. Industries like food and pharma are so sensitive as their products may turn into something inconceivable. In scenarios like this, they have to recall the putrefied products but tracing them is the challenge here with no solution yet.
Yes, with NFTs, each and every product is represented with a unique ID. By just checking the ID, we get all the data regarding the particular product. This makes the filtering process of the inconceivable products and recalling an effortless job. Thanks to NFT.
Counterfeiting Factor
One issue the logistics industry has been fighting for a long time and never won is counterfeiting. The number of fake products circulating in the market is more than our imagination. Replacing the original goods for fake ones has been the reason for this. All the heavy security and supervision methods have turned out to be a failure as counterfeiting still prevails.
NFTs and blockchain is the solution here. An NFT cannot be replaced, as we know. Once a product is minted to an NFT, it cannot be replaced. Thereby, misplacing a fake product for the original one is not an option for fraudulently.
Final Thoughts
NFTs are here with a bang in the digital world and have been turning the tables in the virtual world from day one. But now, it looks like it is not something that can be confined in the virtual world. The application of NFTs in the real world can be a game-changing move like the one we saw for the supply chain. All we could do is just wonder what more NFTs have in store for the real world.