What is… NFT?

Until now, bitcoin has been virtually synonymous with blockchain technology. This year, the NFT has been added as a synonym. Like bitcoin, an NFT is a token on the (respective) blockchain. All coins and tokens stand for predefined values. These can be money-like values, but also values such as ownership or participation rights. The money-like tokens or coins are exchangeable 1 to 1.   1 Bitcoin = 1 Bitcoin. They are „fungible„. The NFT, on the other hand, is the Non-Fungible Token, not exchangeable. It presents a unique value and content. This makes it predestined to represent creative copyright-protected content in particular, i.e. IP assets. An NFT is therefore a one-to-one token that defines ownership and precise rules of use in its metadata and smart contract, thus establishing access rules. This makes it possible to produce single items as well as multiples or editions with a predefined number of items. Ultimately, all possible rules of use can be laid down in the smart contracts. NFTs create digital scarcity and thus enable a digital product, with proof of ownership – for both the creator and the buyers – and the definition of the rules of use by the creator. And this is particularly interesting for digital artworks of image, film, text and music, because until now they could be copied without restriction and were therefore uncontrollable. The NFT format can and will change this.