The story of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) began shortly after the advent of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in 2009, which have since brought a lot of exciting innovations; and as the nuances of digital assets are explored, NFTs are now having their well-deserved spot in the limelight.
CoinBurp released an NFT wallet so that users can now easily engage with their favourite digital art and collectables. The History of NFTs is a fascinating one, so let’s take a look at how these digital assets work and how they’ve evolved over the past decade.
Coloured Coins: 2012–2013
A few years after Bitcoin was first launched in 2009, one of the first iterations of an NFT-like token came in the form of “Coloured Coins”, which were first mentioned in a 2012 blog post from eToro Founder and CEO, Yoni Assia.
These Coloured Tokens would be the first attempt at representing a real-world asset on the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin was originally designed to be a currency, and its scripting allows for tiny increments of metadata to be stored on the blockchain, in turn these can be used to represent asset manipulation instructions.
For example, a coloured coins wallet could write into the code of a Bitcoin transaction that 10 units of real-world assets such as shares, shopping vouchers, or even leverage these coins for voting or access to certain platforms.
It’s simplistic and it didn’t really catch on for good reason, whilst the architecture of the Bitcoin network is relatively sound, it’s not exactly built for purpose. Furthermore, in order for Coloured Coins to function, everyone issuing them and using them would have to agree upon a commonly accepted value per unit, or at least a guaranteed system of token redemption.
Crypto Collectibles: 2014–2016
Although Coloured Coins weren’t taking off, the concept piqued the curiosity of others, and it wasn’t long before a firm called Counterparty gave the NFT space the kickstart it needed.
In 2014, Counterparty developed a peer-to-peer financial platform as well as an open-source Internet protocol built on top of the Bitcoin network which allowed for decentralised asset creation, which also came with its own ticker, $XCP.
With the massive potential for creating assets on blockchains now having a place to exist, Counterparty was soon the home of numerous projects and assets.
Spells of Genesis (SoG), a card trading/adventure game was the first to join somewhere around April of 2015, the creators pioneered the creation and issuance of in-game assets onto a blockchain through Counterparty and, most notably, they were the first company to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), which didn’t even have an acronym at the time. SoG was also the first-ever blockchain-based mobile game.
More trading card games would join Counterparty in 2016, with one of the most popular card games in the world at that time, Force Of Will, being added to the platform. This would be one of the first times a non-blockchain company would adopt and integrate this new tech, and then came the memes.
Sometime in 2016, the infamous Pepe meme became a commodity on Counterparty. People began issuing “rare pepes” on the platform, eventually leading to the creation of a Rare Pepe Meme Directory.
Introducing Ethereum: 2017–2018
In 2015, Ethereum began its venture toward being a significant force in both blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. In fact, it is probably the most significant breakthrough since Bitcoin, and has since become the leader of Decentralised Finance (DeFi), and the swathes of projects, platforms, and protocols that technology encompasses.
Alongside the ERC20 token standard that became the foundation for many cryptocurrencies to be built on, another was created for NFTs, ERC721. The difference between the two is that ERC20 is a great option for those who want their tokens to interact with other tokens and applications on Ethereum; ERC721 tokens, on the other hand, track ownership as well as token movement on the other blockchain.
Rare Pepes moved to Ethereum in early 2017, and by the end of the year, NFTs were beginning to make quite a stir. Projects such as Cryptopunks, Decentraland, and CryptoKitties would be breakout use cases for NFTs, setting the stage for what was soon to come.
Cryptopunks was a simple project by design, releasing a limited run of 10,000 unique characters on the Ethereum blockchain, giving the NFT art movement another boost. For a rather simple portrait of a pixel character, one Alien character from Cryptopunks would sell for over $700,000.
Another major breakthrough was CryptoKitties, as not only could you buy and trade your NFTs, but you could also breed them and create new ones; the project attracted millions in venture capital investment, not to mention some of these virtual cats were selling for over $100,000.
Decentraland is a real standout project as it would be the first of its kind to introduce the concept of a fully virtualised world built on blockchain. This virtual reality game gives players the chance to purchase 10x10 boxes of 3D virtual space, in which they can play games, create, build and much more.
Into the Mainstream: 2018–2021
The word was out, NFTs are redefining how CoinBurp think about digital assets and it wasn’t before long that major arts and entertainment industries were zoning in on the action.
From fantasy football leagues and collectibles on Sorare, to the NFT marketplaces such as SuperRare and OpenSea that list thousands of projects from across the whole ecosystem.
The NFT buzz is here to stay, and CoinBurp is supporting them all the way. Recently launched was the new DeFi wallet so that the users can seamlessly engage with their favourite NFT/DeFi platforms and projects. Which can be downloaded here.
Accessible gateways are essential to ensure this revolutionary technology operates brilliantly; the official wallet works as a simple conduit between you and the ever-expanding world of digital assets. If you’d like to know more about the wallet, CoinBurp, and anything else crypto, be sure to check out CoinBurp’s website and blog.
Make sure to follow CoinBurp on:
Click below for the most up-to-date information regarding the company, token and public launch plans!
** The above tokens are issued by Cede Fields LTD (a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands) and distributed by Kucoin and Gate.io.
Important Information
Cryptocurrencies are generally not regulated and investors do not have access to recourse or compensation schemes such as, for example, in the UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Investing in cryptocurrencies can be high risk and investors should carefully evaluate their appetite for risk and their understanding of trading cryptocurrencies prior to entering into a transaction.
