What Are NFTs and How Will They Affect the IT Industry?（NFTはIT業界にどのような影響を与えるのか）

Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, have quickly become one of the most talked-about topics in the tech industry, as in 2021, many have sold for incredibly high prices. For example, in March of this year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sold an NFT of his first-ever tweet for US$2.9 million, and an NFT of digital art by Beeple was sold for a staggering US$69 million by Christie’s auction house. Events like this have created a gold rush in the entertainment industry, and organizations such as the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, F1 Racing, Nike, and Luis Vuitton are all moving into the space, with venture capitalists also rushing to invest. And while NFTs can certainly be viewed as a fad, the blockchain technology behind them is not, and will have far-reaching implications for the IT industry at large going forward.

NFTs & FTs

But what exactly is an NFT? An NFT is a unit of data on a public blockchain which gives a digital asset a unique identity, which can be verified by anyone viewing a shared ledger. NFTs are typically encoded with the same software which is used by cryptocurrencies, and hence, there is a strong linkage between the two technologies. Currently, NFTs are commonly used as proof of ownership for items such as art, music, in-game items, and videos. NFTs are distinct from Fungible Tokens (FTs) as fungible tokens are not unique and are interchangeable, with a common example being two bills of FIAT currency of the same value. Hence, NFTs are in fact an extension of blockchain technology, which has only recently enabled the easy transfer of assets, and which has led to the current market boom.