A popular cryptoproject using NFTs: StrongBlock (homework for @levycore)

It was very interesting to learn more about NFTs in the recent lecture from @levycore here on Steemit. Here is my homework in which I would like to write more about a project I follow carefully and that I have faith in long-term. The name of the project is StrongBlock, and it is led by David Moss. He had a prominent role in the creation of EOS, but has now been part of StrongBlock for a while. But, what is the project about and how do they use NFTs?

The StrongBlock project

StrongBlock is currently operating more than half of all Ethereum nodes in the world. In fact, the percentage is even higher, as StrongBlock currently runs more than 20,000 Ethereum 1 nodes. They are facilitating the nodes, and normal people can join the work through by using the StrongBlock NaaS (Node as a Service) option. In other words, anyone can create an Ethereum 1 node through the NaaS solution, and they will then receive a daily reward for running the node. After the initial investment, there is a monthly fee to pay for the node (like if you would be renting a VPS), but besides that, this is a steady lide of income.

The goal of StrongBlock is to secure the blockchain, something that can be done with lots of nodes. But, StrongBlock isn't limited to Ethereum only, as they will most likely announce the chance to setup nodes for other blockchains as well within the coming weeks. As a result, this is a chain that will strengthen the security and make sure that there will always be nodes up and running. For example, in 2020 there was a day in which Infura had trouble, and suddenly MetaMask, Binance, and other exchanges and services "went down" and couldn't process Ethereum transactions at all (as they rent nodes from Infura). With the large number of Ethereum nodes from StrongBlock (most of them NaaS, but some of them also being privately running nodes setup by users), they will make such block-outs easier to get rid of.

What has this got to do with NFT-s?

David Moss, the CEO of StrongBlock, has spoken about the importance of NFTs for a long time. And right now they have also implemented this in their protocol. How does it work?

Every node owner registered in the system before January 1st in 2021 received a Bronze NFT. These are numbered, and a total of 3500 (or something like that) were handed out. There will never be minted more bronze NFTs! Right now they have implemented a function meaning that those nodes that have a bronze NFT registered will receive a higher daily reward for their node, than those without a bronze NFT. Since the number of NFTs is limited, and since it will cause an increased reward, people have been quite "crazy" about these NFTs, thus making the sell price of one single such NFT at the moment approximately 1 Ethereum.

David Moss speaking about the NFTs to his followers on Twitter.

Not only bronze NFTs

But, there are even more NFTs coming to the StrongBlock protocol. We have been promised a silver, gold, and a platinum NFT as well. What will they do? Many people run several nodes at the same time. Based on the information we have received so far, you can only use one bronze NFT to boost the reward of ONE node. But, it is expected that you can boost the reward for several nodes with a silver NFT, and then even more nodes with a gold NFT, and then even more with a platinum NFT.

Even more, these NFTs will also give you access to further bonuses and useful pricks in the StrongBlock universe.

What makes it so interesting, is that every single NFT is numbered, making sure that you can track and know that your NFT is unique. The fact that they will also boost your rewards in the system makes it both cool and useful at the same time.

In other words, this isn't just part of a hype, but these NFTs have an actual usecase.

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I thank you for this lesson about NFTs and hope you have found my homework to be useful and interesting.