NFT stands for "non-fungible token" or "non-replaceable token". It is a unique digital asset that uses blockchain technology to confirm its uniqueness and authenticity.
Unlike cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, etc.) NFTs are not interchangeable with each other because each has its own unique code. 1 BTC = 1 BTC, unlike NFTs. Each NFT is unique just like any work of art: a Leonardo Da Vinci painting cannot be replaced by a Vincent Van Gogh painting, and a Sting song cannot be replaced by a Kendricka Lamar song. Each artwork is unique - also works with NFTs. Each NFT exists in a single copy, and the rights are held by a single owner. Information related to authorship, buyer and all transactions, one NFT or another is stored in the blockchain.
Blockchain is a continuous chain of blocks. A block in this scheme is information about a series of transactions recorded in a distributed ledger. The chain is a continuous sequence of these blocks, allowing anyone to trace the complete transaction history of a particular asset from the very beginning of its existence.
The history of NFT begins in 2012, when the Colored Coins project was created. The essence of the project was that users could "color" BTC and add unique information to them. Why was this necessary? Thanks to such "unique" BTCs, users could make purchases, proving their ownership of them.
The next step towards NFTs that are widely used today was Counterparty, through which the Spell of Genesis game project created unique items for their game.
Counterparty is a system that applies Bitcoin technology to confirm ownership of digital assets such as artwork and collectibles.
The first NFT sold was "Quantum," created and tokenized by Kevin McCoy in 2014 on the Namecoin blockchain, and then released and sold in 2021 on the Ethereum platform.
In 2017, the first game to utilize the full capabilities of NFT was developed - CryptoKitties, based on the Ethereum blockchain. CryptoKitties represented unique digital kittens that were stored on the blockchain. This was the first large-scale use of non-fungible tokens (NFT).
In the same year, artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, began creating and selling his digital works as NFTs on the Ethereum platform. His work "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" was sold for 69 million dollars at Christie's auction in 2021. This is what brought the world's media attention to the world of digital art and NFTs.
In 2021, the world saw one of the most famous NFT collections, Cryptopunks.