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While the world of NFTs continue to soar in their popularity and patronage it becomes imperative that structures be set up where they can easily be purchased. I believe this must have been the reason professor @imagen decided to let us in on a few important places where these digital friends can be obtained.

In this article I will be describing one of these important market places where NFTs could be obtained. Also, I would give a detailed explanation of the ERC-1155 and how it differs from the ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens. Equally, I would be exploring Etherscan and the Enjin wallet as well as give my personal opinion on the likely future of NFT markets.

INTRODUCTION

Some platforms have been created online where one can easily put up his non-fungible tokens to be sold to interested buyers. Due to the fact that NFTs in themselves have experienced explosive patronage, most of these currently available NFT online marketplaces have equally experienced explosive sales in a few months.

While some of the marketplaces are open markets and allow the sales of just any NFT, some are collectibles markets and permit
similar items. Equally, some can be referred to as selected markets where NFTs are exclusively owned while others can be gaming markets for NFT gaming applications.

THE NIFTY GATEWAY

source

One of the very popular and NFT marketplaces that has gained so much widespread popularity, patronage and usage is the Nifty gateway NFT marketplace.

Founders And Developers:-

The platform was founded in 2018 by Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster. However, it has been purchased by Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss - the Winklevoss Twins. The platform has sold NFTs belonging to popular acts like Grimes, Beeple and LOGIK. Equally, there are other popular NFT artists on the platform who are followed widely and profiting from it.

Launch Date:-

It was founded and launched in 2018.

Objective Of The Platform:-

The objective of the platform is to work with top brands and artists in the production of limited high quality NFTs that can only be obtained from the platform and not elsewhere.

Hence, the intention is to make such nifties accessible to just anybody who intends to purchase them.

Operation:-

The Nifty Gateway operates by working with brands and artists in order to produce or create nifty collections that will be limited in supply. These collections are now made available on the platform exclusively. Interestingly, this platform is secured and enjoys the security features of an industry-leading security technology, the Gemini Exchange.

Usually, each of this collection is released at a specified time and date. After they are released, they are made available for purchase on the platform only for a limited period of time. Once you have purchased any nifties, you can decide to showcase them on your profile. The nifties your own are withdrawable to external wallets. Also, you can decide to deposit your nifties from other wallets into your account on Nifty Gateway.

Market And Target:-

The platform has its attention on exclusive digital art. However, it is possible to find collectibles that are less exclusive. The NFTs are Ethereum blockchain-based and operate with the ERC-721 tokenization standard.

The company has stated that its target is to ensure the release of a new nifty every 3 weeks. This it plans to do until they are able to avail 1 billion people the opportunity of collecting nifties.

So, they intend to market their products to as many people as are ready to pay for them within the stipulated period of time. The acquired nifties are then owned by such people.

Availability:-

The platform can be accessed from a web browser through their site, niftygateway.com. Equally, they have a mobile app which can be gotten from Google Play store and connected to your nifty gateway accounts.

WHAT ARE ERC-1155 TOKENS?

The Ethereum-Request-for-Comment-1155(ERC-1155) is actually a new standard with which tokens are created on the Ethereum blockchain which has as its core principle of operation the ability to create either fungible or non-fungible tokens in a way that is gas efficient.

This particular token creation standard has a distinct feature of being able to create multiple tokens at a time with the use of just one smart contract. Interestingly, this standard token protocol has the ability to create tokens that can assume the attribute of either ERC-721 or ERC-20; it can even assume the features of both at the same time while using the same address.

The primary aim of it is to improve the standards at which the ERC-20 and ERC-721 have been operating with a view to making it more efficient with better functionalities. Consequently, efforts were made to correct the errors encountered in the implementation of the other ERC tokens. This particular tokenization standard was created by Philippe Castonguay, Witek Radomski, James Therien, Ronan Sandford, Andrew Cooke and Eric Binet.

You can find more technical descriptions of the tokenization standard protocol here.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ERC-1155 , ERC-20 AND ERC-721 TOKENS

• With the ERC-1155 token standard, it is possible to use one smart contract for the creation of numerous tokens while ERC-721 and ERC-20 only permit the creation of a token with each smart contract.
• With the ERC-1155 token standard, the minting of new tokens comes with a cut of up to 90% in gas fees and the transactions generally come with lower gas fees unlike ERC-20 and ERC-721 that involve higher transaction gas fees
• ERC-1152 makes it possible for a multiple number of tokens to be sent out in one transaction while ERC-20 and ERC-721 only permit transferring one token at a time
• ERC-1155 can be used to create both fungible and non-fungible tokens, ERC-20 creates only fungible tokens and the ERC-721 creates only non-fungible tokens.
• Erc-1155 uses the Secure Token Transfer to ensure the retrieval of wrongly transferred tokens while ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens that are wrongly transferred are lost forever.
• ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens are incompatible but ERC-1155 is a hybrid of the two tokens and can even be used alone when dealing with both fungible and non-fungible tokens

These differences are summarized in the table below:

Parameter	ERC-20	ERC-721	ERC-1155
Smart Contracts	Creates one token at a time	Creates one token at time	Creates multiple at a time
Gas Fees	High gas fees	High gas fees	Low gas fees
Transactions	Each sends only one token	Each sends only one token	Each can send multiple
Token Type Created	Fungible tokens only	Non-fungible tokens only	Both
Wrongly transferred tokens	Cannot be retrieved	Cannot be retrieved	Can be retrieved
Compatibility	Incompatible with ERC-721	Incompatible with ERC-20	A hybrid of both

In order to carry out this experiment I visited https://etherscan.io

NUMBER OF ERC-1155 TOKENS ON ETHERSCAN

While on the site I:

• Clicked on Tokens
• Selected ERC-1155 Top Tokens

The screenshot below reveals that a total of 18,331 ERC-1155 token contracts had been created.

THE FIRST FIVE TOKENS BY 24 HOUR TRADING VOLUME ON ETHERSCAN

The first five tokens by 24-hour trading volume are shown below:

HASH OF LAST TRANSACTION, THE TOKEN USED AND ITS SMART CONTRACT

To access these data, I:

• Clicked on Tokens
• Selected View ERC1155 Transfers

This reveals the last transaction on the network with its hash as shown below:

Clicking through it:

• Reveals the token used
• And its smart contract

Token used: OpenSea Shared Storefront

Smart contract: Ox495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e

THE ENJIN WALLET: ITS USER INTERFACE AND FUNCTIONS

There are quite a number of features on the Enjin wallet user interface that have different functions. Some of them include:

Projects:-

With this feature you should be able to create and add your own projects to the platform. Once you've created the projects, they can be put up for sale. I created a project which involved my personal photo.

Account Details:-

From this feature on the wallet you should be able to assess the details of your account. Once in you should be able to edit your information like username, email address or even change your password.

Discord Channel:-

From this feature you can access the engine discord group which has over 15,000 members.

Documentation:-

On the documentation segment you can have a glimpse at different important articles written to accompany you on your journey to explore the service. You would get information on just about anything you need on the platform.

Product Security:-

Through this feature you would be able to contact the service providers in case you find any bug in the system. They would then work with you in a bid to quickly resolve the bug. After this they would compensate you for your time and efforts.

THE NUMBER OF ITEMS FOR SALE ON ITS MARKETPLACE

The screenshot below indicates that there are a total of 17,481 items for sale on the Enjin marketplace.

THE FIRST THREE ITEMS ON THE LIST AND THEIR DESCRIPTION

The first three items on the list include:

1). Tears Of Serenity:-

Its Description is shown below:

2). Revenge:-

Its Description is shown below:

3). Golden Evanbrook Egg:-

Its Description is shown below:

THE FUTURE OF NFT MARKETS: MY PERSONAL OPINION WITH REASONS

In the few months that just passed sales of NFT collectibles have skyrocketed. From a record on nonfungible.com, 7 most popular NFT marketplaces netted sales of over $356 million in the first week of August only. This informs my opinion that the NFT marketplaces are definitely going to wax stronger and here are a few of my reasons.

Great potentials for growth

The NFT marketplaces have exhibited quite a great potential for remarkable growth and expansion in the near future. This is occasioned by the fact that as at 2019 the total market capitalisation of the NFT industry was sitting at about just $210 million.

This figure has grown remarkably 2 and over $710 million in 2021 based on reports from nonfungible.com. The simple meaning is that the NFT market sector is getting quite a huge popularity and usage and is bound to grow stronger in the future.

Different models for the market

From the look of things and from the available matrix, I believe that subsequently there's going to be a greater shift towards different models or kinds of the NFT marketplace globally. From my observation of the market a few of the possible or likely models I can identify in the near future can include:

• The universal model:- In this type of model any kind of collectibles can be displayed for sale and users will be connected based on a peer-to-peer methodology. Just about anything can be displayed.
• Single-type marketplace:- In this type of model only a single type of the collectibles would be displayed; this would see stricter curation standards and display on the high end collections.
• Hybrid marketplaces:- In this type of marketplace it is possible to create customised and just about any type of NFT to be marketed by anybody.

These models are already in place and I believe that there will be a wider adoption of these models.

A shift towards lower gas fees

In the NFT marketplace I have observed that most of the newer platforms are moving away from the Ethereum blockchain due to its high gas fees. Preferred marketplaces now include Immutable-X and Polygon.

I see a greater shift towards these more gas friendly platforms where transaction fees could be cut by even as much as 90%.

Greater interoperability

In the future NFT marketplace I see a potential for greater interoperability of the different platforms where the markets are hosted. This is because already some marketplaces like FTX are working on cross-chain possibilities where any of these can be traded between Solana and Ethereum blockchains.

More marketplace-based airdrops

The fact that some marketplaces like SuperRare conducted airdrops in the past and delivered free tokens to registered users resulted in more people engaging in the platform. I envisage that in the near future more platforms would embrace this methodology to woo users.

Venture capitalist and mainstream investors coming in

In the future I also envisage that a lot of mainstream investors and venture capitalists would come into the market and improve its profitability. This is already seen as a lot of big venture capitalists have made some investments on leading NFT marketplaces like Rarible, OpenSea and Mintable.

Actually, there are quite a lot of other things I intend to see on the NFT marketplace in the near future. Nevertheless, they will all tilt towards widespread adoption and usage as well as higher profitability.

CONCLUSION

NFT marketplaces have become very important aspects of the growth and development of the NFT sector. Generally, the fact that NFTs have experienced explosive adoption means that the marketplaces have also seen remarkable patronage and profits even in the past few months.

Different tokenization standards have been used in the minting of fungible and non-fungible tokens. While some only permitted the minting of fungible tokens, others only permitted the minting of non fungible tokens. However, the ERC-1155 has the peculiar advantage of permitting the both.

I expect that the NFT marketplaces would experience even larger adoption and explosive usage in the near future. Equally, I envisage that a lot of mainstream players and investors would step into the market to further increase its profitability.