Crypto Academy week 10- Homework post for Professor @levycore on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

Just a month ago, we all saw a tech company known as Injective Protocol burn a piece of art whose worth is about $95,000 on a live video. This piece of art, known as "Morons" (white) was created by Banksy, Yeah, the same famous British artist. While the world wondered why they could do such a thing considering the number of hungry persons in the world, in the same live video, the group unveiled a digital form of the same art work, and in that same second, it seemed as if the whole world forgot about the burning incidence as they were all excited about the digital image.

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At that time, I couldn't grasp what really happened, as I felt that there was no way a digital format of a physical object will be of the same value as a real object. To me, it was just like taking a picture of a ship worth about a billion dollars and then claim that the picture is worth the same amount as the real ship, it was too complex to comprehend. Today's lesson on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) which was delivered by Professor @levycore has helped me appreciate what really happened on that live video a month ago. If you would love to see the video, here is the link.

Hello steemians, and crypto enthusiast, you are welcomed to the week 10 of the Steemit Crypto Academy. In this post, however, I will be discussing NFT project known as Cryptokitties in accordance to the assignment given, but before I do so, for the sake of those who, just like me, heard about NFT recently, let me first introduce the concept of NFT.

Alright, let's begin.

INTRODUCTION

To better appreciate the phrase "Non-Fungible Tokens", terms such as Fungible and Token must be explained.

Although the word sounds so much like the multicellular organism, it doesn't relate to it by any means. Something is said to be Fungible when it can be exchange or substituted for something of equal value. For example, an "everyday burger" is fungible as it can be bought or exchange for some few dollars. Cryptocurrencies and banknotes are fungible, as you can easily get the same value of Bitcoin with your etherum, or "buy" euros using dollars.

Tokens on the other hand are those things that are used to represent something else. Its just like an IOU (I owe you) or a food meal ticket. IOU don't have values on there own, same with a food meal ticket as it's just paper, but they are valuable because of what they represent, and for a meal ticket it represent only a meal and nothing more.

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Having understood this, we can define Non-Fungible Tokens as digital representations of real valuable objects that can't be exchanged direct for another asset since both of them don't, (and never will) have the same value.

Each NFT is unique as it contains informations which are recorded in smart contracts run by Etherum and other blockchains, which distinguish them from every other NFTs. This implies that no two NFTs look alike. You might ask, what if someone makes a copy of it? Well, Each copy can be traced back to the original issuer, and the authenticity of that copy can be verified through the blockchain. To make it more easier, see NFTs like a flight ticket which contains unique informations such as purchase name, and other indentifiers traceable to only one person on Earth.

NFTs are currently used to sell exclusive items and collectibles such as sports cards, memes, artworks, tweets e.t.c, as it gives more value to it, while giving it the copyright protection and the scarcity it needs to remain valuable for ever.

The whole concept of NFTs began in 2015, but the first sets of projects were launched in later months of 2017. Since then, several NFTs projects have been launched and NFTs is on its way to gaining much popularity as cryptocurrencies. As I mentioned earlier, In this assignment, I will be discussing one of the popular NFTs projects called Cryptokitties.

CRYPTOKITTIES

Cryptokitties is a 3D online game built on the Etherum blockchain. This decentralized game which was developed by Dapper Labs, a Canadian studio, is quite popular among cat lovers. The game allows the players to collect, breed, and purchase virtual cats. These virtual cats, can be sold in the Cryptokitties marketplace for as much money (or even more than) as what is paid for a real cat. Cryptokitties was released in 2017 and it is among the first attempts to apply the idea of blockchain technology in the area of leisure and recreation.

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These virtual cats are known as cryptokitties. Each cryptokitty is an NFT which is represented on Etherum using ERC-721 token standard, it is unique and owned only by the user. A cryptokitty can not be copied, as the authenticity of it can be verified through the blockchain (saying that it's copyright protected is an understatement). Even the developers of the game can't transfer a cryptokitty without the user's permission.

Just like every NFT, the value of a cryptokitty in the Cryptokitties marketplace can increase or decrease. On December 2, 2017, a cryptokitty named Genesis was sold for ETH246.9255, (that's about $117,712 as of then). In a sale made on 12th may 2018, a cryptokitty was sold for $140,000.

NOTABLE FEATURES OF CRYPTOKITTIES

Although the main picture of Cryptokitties game is creating a virtual world were the players own a cat as pet, there are still other features of the game which are note worthy. Some of them are:

1. Cryptokitty arts or avatars:
   Although the game itself is on blockchain and each user is allowed to buy, sell and breed cryptokitties, the cryptokitty art itself is not on the blockchain, rather it is owned by a company known as Axiom Zen. This company releases art or avatars protected by a 'Nifty' license which allows every player to use their images, but in a limited way.

2. Cattributes:
   Each of the cryptokitty has a number unique to them, a traceable DNA (which is actually a 256 bit distinct genome), and different attributes. These attributes (or cattributes) are divided into two: those that can be passed down to the offspring and those that are a function of a particular generation. Each of the cryptokitty has about 12 attributes that are transferable such as fur, base colour, pattern, eye shape, eye color, 'purrstige', highlight color, environment, optional wild and 'secret'. Features that are a function of a particular generation of offsprings includes features such as cool down times. Cool down time indicates how soon a cat can breed again.

3. Number of cryptokitty in Cryptokitties:
   Axiom Zen, the creator of the cryptokitty art releases a new cryptokitty every 15 minutes, (about 672 per week). In total, there are about 4 billion cats in the game that can bred.
   
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4. Phenotype, genotype:
   Every cat in the game has a visual appearance (referred to as phenotype) perculiar to it alone. It's phenotype is determined by genes, (which are bunch of codes saved in the smart contracts). This way, no offspring is exactly like the parents.

5. Gender:
   None of the cryptokitty kitties has a permanent gender assigned to them. Although they can engage in one breeding per session, they can act as either the male or the female.

CRYPTOKITTIES MARKETPLACE

Cryptokitties has a marketplace which is open for everyone. The accepted legal tender in this market is Etherum, and this is expected as the game runs on the Etherum blockchain. Owners of Cryptokitties can sell them there or even buy from another player, and if a player has a cat with a notable gene, he can put it up for sire, without the fear of losing it for ever. There are also generation 0, i.e newly created Cryptokitties you can buy in the market. Most newbies buy them for breeding.

Remember we began by telling a story of a painting burnt on a live video. To proof that the digital image of the painting is worth more than the real painting, I will be comparing a cryptokitty (an NFT) from the Cryptokitties game and a real cat. The comparison is done in the table below.

NFT Cryptokitty	Real-life kitty
Can not be stolen	Can be stolen
Without gender, therefore can give birth to kittens	Must be female to give birth
Worth lots of money when sold or breed	Worth lots of money when sold or breed
Yours, and yours alone	Must be shared with family and friends (lol, whether you like it or not)
Doesn't mess up the living room	Messes us the living room, like the king it is (You know all cats think they are royalty).
Can't be cuddled	Can be cuddled.

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From the table above you can see that the cryptokitty (NFT) was more preferable than the real life cat in all areas apart from one, and that's because you can't cuddle them, as man doesn't live on a virtual world with them, but that's just for now, who knows whether technology will bridge the "physical" gap between both world in the nearest future, but that's a discussion for another day.

In conclusion, NFTs are a bundle of the best of everything. They are valuable, copyright protected, traceable, and makes sure the owner recieves royalty each time it's used. There is no better method of wealth security than this, neither is there a faster way of turning something worth "nothing" into "a money cow." The game, Cryptokitties gives a perfect picture of this.

Lastly, the lovely thing about Cryptokitties, just like every other NFT is that it allows you to own something even if you have a phobia for it. Those who have made cats their eternal enemy, owning a cryptokitty will help you make peace with them. Don't forget, cats love to be loved, and for as long as you don't love them, these lovely creatures will never let you be their servants (laughs).

Thank you Professor @levycore for this wonderful lesson, you are amazing.

REFERENCES

Cryptokitties Wiki

What is an NFT?

Cryptokitties Technical details

NFT: Why they are worth millions