The Evolving World of NFTs, the Metaverse and Bankers

Today, the world of NFTs, cryptocurrency, and blockchain is an ever-evolving one. While some are highly invested and well versed on the meanings of all of these terms, most teeter on the spectrum somewhere between unaware and confused and uninformed.

More recently, with the rising value and popularity of NFTs, the utility of these digital currencies and tokens is being explored at a rapid pace.

Non Fungible Tokens

Over the past few years, NFTs have been in the headlines in a big way. In 2021, the Nyan Cat NFT, based on a 2011 GIF, sold for $600,000, and NBA NFTs generated over $500 million in sales.

NFTs are non-fungible tokens, meaning that they are each unique and irreplaceable. A bitcoin, or even regular dollars and cents, are fungible because one can be traded for another, and each will have the same value so that both are virtually the same.

An NFT is more like a valuable trading card (think baseball or Pokemon cards). Different cards will have different values based on their own unique, intrinsic worth. Two NFTs can have the same value at any given time, but their rise and fall in value will be mutually exclusive so that they are not linked. Many are even talking about NFTs as an evolution of collecting fine art.

Difference between NFTs and Cryptocurrency

Before getting too far with NFTs, it may be helpful to distinguish between NFTs and cryptocurrency. Both are built on blockchain and operate under the same basic principles. However, cryptocurrency is a currency, and NFTs are not fungible, so while one bitcoin equals one bitcoin, one NFT does not equal one NFT.

NFTs, ascribe value and ownership to digital materials, like MP3, digital art or GIFs, etc. An NFT can also link the owner to the art to earn per-use royalties, which has massive implications for multiple forms of media.

NFT Utility

It isn’t easy to discuss NFTs without diving straight into their utility and how they are being applied. These tokens are sometimes monikered as uNFTs. As mentioned, NFTs are being taken more seriously because of their ability to track and generate royalties for artists. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Fans can even purchase a stake in the media NFT to be shareholders and even begin earning as value increases.

Some NFTs are valued entirely based on their design of allowing owners to access special media, perks, or opportunities. These utility NFTs have applications for access and community, engagement and social accounts, gaming, gambling, and probably more to come.

Ownership of these utility NFTs unlocks different uses available only to the token owner.

Metaverse and NFTs 

The introduction of the metaverse takes us past this present time of utility NFTs to forecasting one to two decades into the future.

The metaverse is considered to be the next iteration of the internet. The metaverse is conceptualized as a 3D environment where users can meet in 3D in real-time to work, hang out, play games, and probably much more. As mentioned, it is expected that this new iterative will begin to emerge in the next decade to a decade and a half.

The metaverse is projected to be an interactive world in which the avatars of real people can interact with one another in shared environments. These environments can have their intrinsic economies, complete with buying and selling items, accessories, digital real estate, and much more. There will be more consumer implications than we can even imagine right now. But not all of the environments will be based in this way – some will be board rooms or private social functions.

To make this reality-powered and function as a mirror to reality, it requires a currency. Cryptocurrencies are, of course, the ideal currency for the internet realm. For this reason, several metaverse cryptocurrencies have started to emerge from companies like SAND, Decentraland (MANA), Star Atlas (ATLAS), Libra, and more.

The metaverse is expected to become a vast environment that some call a $10-$30 trillion opportunity. If it seems like this is all talk and fantasy, consider that the platform formerly known as Facebook is now known as Meta Platforms. Meta has already invested up to $10 billion in the metaverse.

Bankers’ Recent Metaverse Drop

On January 31st, 2022, Unbanked released its limited series of 10,000 “Bankers” NFTs. Bankers are created by famed artist and designer Antoine Mingo, who is known for designing the Pudgy Penguins NFTs. (For those unaware, Pudgy Penguins is an NFT collection with over $150,000,000 in trade volume on OpenSea.)

Bankers are another example of utility NFTs, where token holders get free access to Unbanked’s forthcoming lending and borrowing opportunities. Bankers holders will also get 20% more profit than the public when using Unbanked Yield. As such, Bankers go beyond the intangibility of NFTs by having real-world functionality in commerce.

Crypto.co recently described Bankers as a “must-have” for metaverse collectors. The importance of Bankers centers around several factors: the popularity of the artist, Antoine Mingo; the ability to earn an increase of 20% higher returns; the ability for token owners to monetize their tokens as they wish; a limited supply (with excess tokens destroyed); free lending and borrowing; and the reliability and legitimacy of the Unbanked team.

Unbanked Bankers show the gaining momentum of utility NFTs. The launch of this product speaks to the innumerable directions open in the field of NFTs and signals the further unfolding of the metaverse. The staying power of this new paradigm has been fortified, and the time for getting involved is now, if not yesterday. For more information on Bankers and more, read more on Unbanked.