Steemit Crypto Academy Season 2 - Homework (by @levycore): An Introduction to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

Hello Steemit Crypto Academy,

NFT technology was much-debated in recent days. Everyone worries about this technology. Lots of questions emerged and people have not know anything about the non-fungible tokens ( NFT) yet. I was also curious about this topic. Luckily, Professor @levycore’s homework is about NFT. I have learned most of the new topics when I read. I did this homework with pleasure.

Introduction
We have familiarized ourselves with new technological issues with blockchain. Blockchain technology allows owners to transfer, sell and use records without restriction. Blockchain technologies are developing more and more every day and NFT is one of them. As Professor said, NFT is a byproduct of a certain type of cryptographic token that cannot be used interchangeably. I chose The Sandbox example to explain NFT technology. I read their White Paper and generalized more information from it. Let’s begin.

The Sandbox is a virtual world. In this virtual world, players can create their gaming experience using the platform's utility SAND on the Ethereum blockchain. They can also make money from these experiences. It is very interesting and that is why I chose this example. Also, I watched a series (Start-Up) on Netflix and the name of the famous place in this series is Sandbox. Maybe it evocated 😊

Who is The Sandbox?

The Sandbox was founded in 2012. Available on iOS and Android smartphones, the game is the latest version of the Sandbox series. The Sandbox's mission is to create a system where creators can play, share and trade without central control. To achieve their aims they have 42 resources located in their 3 offices with 28 full-time employees. Their slogan is play, create, own, govern and earn. There is a colorful and regular web page of The Sandbox (Figure 1).

Figure 1. An Image of The Sandbox Web Page

Source: https://www.sandbox.game/en/

Relationship Between The Sandbox and NFT

The Sandbox virtual world uses blockchain technology and NFTs to strengthen players. NFTs have started to have a rising power in the global game market as well. As we know, every NFT is unique, indivisible, and interchangeable.
If you want to create game experiences with The Sandbox Game Maker, you can create digital assets, namely NFTs. As a result, you gain profit by loading these assets into the market.
The Sandbox team will improve their project by providing incentives for players to explore and participate in the economy. They are excited to create a new model. With this player-powered economy model, they will take more opportunities both in terms of revenue and token. SAND will provide liquidity to players and investors with this platform. On the other hand, differences between fungible and non-fungible tokens are explained in their White Paper. Non-fungible tokens are distinct, indivisible, and not interchangeable (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Differences between Fungible and Non-Fungible Tokens

Source: The Sandbox-White Paper

If you are in The Sandbox you gain many advantages about NFTs. Now I will explain the 3 of them:
1. True Digital Ownership: Gamers are the true owners of their digital items, even if the game was shut down or abandoned. With blockchain, every game item can be tokenized. This opportunity allowing gamers to decide how they want to trade, sell, or gift their items.
2. Security and Immutability: Blockchain technology paves the way for digital game items to be traded. Thanks to this technology, risks such as fraud and theft are minimized.
3. Trading: Items can be bought and sell freely without concern thanks to blockchain-based gaming platforms.

The Sandbox users are gain numerous advantages thanks to the use of NFTs. You can find lots of items related to NFTs on their website (Figure 3).

Figure 3. NFT Page of The Sandbox Website

Source: https://www.sandbox.game/en/shop/

When you click on one of the assets, the following page opens (Figure 4). I clicked the first one. We can see detailed information about this asset.

Figure 4. An Image of More Detail about NFT on The Sandbox

Source:https://www.sandbox.game/en/assets/charlie-the-messenger/d34c2c52-b4ac-4000-94a3-a7e7161c71d0/

To sum up, The Sandbox decentralized platform allows players and creators to own a piece of its gaming. The Sandbox has a plan for the coming year. They will build a unique way to play in a virtual world. In this world, everyone can play, create, collect, earn, govern, and own anything in the game. Looking at these developments, we will see NFT technology in many other areas of life.

Conclusion
First, I want to thank Professor @levycore for choosing this topic. With the latest developments, I started to wonder about NFTs. Thanks to this assignment, I had the opportunity to do research and learned many things. We know that NFTs can represent digital files similar to creative work formats such as art, sound, video, etc. Who knows, maybe I can sell any of my Steem's posts via NFT. This seems possible nowadays :)

Notes: I got the pictures from https://www.sandbox.game/en/

Cc:

@levycore