Non-fungible token (NFT)
Introduction
NFT’s are short for Non-fungible tokens which are a class of individually unique tokens frequently issued using the ERC-721 standard. While cryptocurrencies strive to be fungible in that each token is interchangeable with one another, NFT’s are one of a kind making them particularly useful for the gaming industry. The standardization allows any in-game items or identity to be used across various applications, even if they were built by different companies. While gaming is one use case, there are others such as rare art that can benefit from provable digital scarcity for unique items.
CryptoKitties was one of the first NFTs to start gaining traction. They are digital, collectible cats that can breed to create new ones and then traded. Depending on certain features making them more desirable they have been sold for as much as $170,000 for a single cat. These collectibles became so popular that they causes significant slowdown in the Ethereum blockchain, increasing transaction fees.
Suggested Reading
CryptoKitties Explained...Mostly article in the NYT
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