NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have been dominating headlines for the past year. 

While everyone has probably heard the acronym at least once, that doesn’t mean that everyone knows exactly what an NFT is. If you don’t know what an NFT is, don’t worry — let’s dive into it. 

A Primer on NFTs

An NFT can be anything from digital art and collectibles to virtual immersive environments. 

An NFT is a secure file that’s stored on the blockchain. NFTs are incredibly secure because all of the data from their history is stored in the blockchain. They can’t be stolen or altered. When you access the NFT file, you get to see the digital goods and engage with them based on their programming. 

Remember, an NFT is really just a digital “thing.” 

I think of it as the coding that creates “matter,” or stuff, in the Metaverse. Since NFTs are secure, they can’t be hacked or altered illegally. That means that someone can’t “change” the integrity of the NFT goods, even though it’s all digital. 

In this way, the “stuff” of NFTs is a lot like the “stuff” in the real world. What is, is. We don’t have wizards magically reconstituting the matter we see in the physical world and suddenly changing it. It’s like the physics of the Metaverse. 

Sounding too much like The Matrix? The rabbit hole goes deeper. 

NFTs in the Metaverse

Right now, NFTs are crazy popular, but they’re not being used to their full potential yet. 

NFTs are mainly being accessed through 2D interfaces, like computers, phones, and laptops. Whether it’s one of the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs or an interactive environment designed by architect Daniel Arsham, people are primarily engaging with it as a typical digital file.

But, NFTs are capable of a full potential that’s like a VR-360-3D environment for avatars in the Metaverse. They can be digitally accessed using VR and AR to simulate a real-world engaging experience. 

With access to the Metaverse just around the corner, NFTs are going to become more pivotal than ever. That’s because NFTs need Metaverse real estate. 

NFTs are going to be inside your Metaverse real estate — just like how you store your “stuff” (art, cars, collectibles, tools, furniture) in your home. 

The Metaverse Parallels the Real World 

In the future, people are going to buy “art” for their “house,” but it’s really an NFT in metaverse real estate. 

Think about how people buy art today. You buy it, but you need a place to store it. And, it has a set dimension in physical space that it requires to be stored. In other words, you can’t store a 5-foot sculpture in a tissue box. 

It will be the same principles in the Metaverse. You buy an NFT artwork and put it in your NFT real estate. The NFT needs the digital space. 

Or, a business can have a gallery where they store their artworks. In the Metaverse, that “gallery” would be digital real estate and the artworks inside would be NFTs. 

These are big changes, but it’s not as foreign as it may seem. Surprisingly, the Metaverse parallels the physical world in many ways. 

In both worlds, real estate is an investment with astronomical potential.