NFT aka Non-Fungible Tokens quickly took the world by storm and with Metaverse as its partner, every area touched by NFT is blooming ever since. With NFT's constantly increasing popularity we have now reached a point where this technology is exceeding its original purpose.  

Here is how everything started; In 2021 an artist named Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million making it the most expensive NFT ever sold in an auction. And since then NFT has become a headline with people buying digital art, tweets, and other digital assets online. 

NFT has opened up an ocean of possibilities for not just one but multiple industries. Here are 14 practical use cases of NFT that could go mainstream.  

But before we get into the details, do check out our blog on 'It's Time to Explore NFT' to learn the basics of NFT. Now let us plunge right in…  

14 Practical Use Cases of NFT

The NFT market is thriving with a growth rate of more than 21.000% in 2021. Putting the hype aside, there are more use cases for NFT than just digital art. Here are 14 practical use cases of NFT that could go mainstream.

Music

Music is an industry that is on the verge of being disrupted by NFT. NFTs can be used to represent the ownership of digital music files. As they are listed on a public ledger, anybody can check the authenticity of a digital asset, making it an efficient way to reduce piracy issues and ensure that musicians are compensated properly for their work.  

The loyalty points or rewards are another interesting use case of NFT. For example, a company could issue NFTs which can be redeemed for special offers and discounts. This would allow customers incentive to keep using the company's products or services. 

By releasing music as an NFT, artists can bypass the intermediaries in between and claim a larger share of royalty payments. Along with that, artists can raise funds for new projects by selling exclusive content in the form of rare NFTs, making NFTs a novelty in the music industry. 

Gaming

Game is another industry that is ripe for disruption by NFTs. NFTs can be used to represent in-game items, characters, or land, allowing gamers to own their favorite game assets and trade them on secondary markets. Rare in-game items such as swords, potions, and shields can be stored using NFTs on the chain. And these items can be sold based on their rarity and functionality within a game. The NFT can be also used to store the metadata for avatars and in-game characters. NFT assets are interoperable between games, allowing users to battle with their favorite swords on various platforms and in various game environments. With the use of NFTm users can also build their own in-game economies by creating, buying, and selling assets. 

Being gaming applications, NFTs are quite popular. For example, an NFT could represent a character in a game which can be then stored on a blockchain. This would be even transferable to another player if the original owner decides to sell it.

Art

This might be one of the popular industries where NFT has set its foot. The use of NFT in the art industry can be used to represent ownership of digital artworks. And this is an efficient way to reduce piracy and ensure that the artist is getting compensated enough for their work. If you are trying to create digital collectibles, then there is no better option than NFT. For example, games can issue rare in-game collectibles such as NFT. These NFTs would be then highly valued by collectors and then can be traded on secondary markets.

What is a better way to represent ownership of physical assets than NFTs? For example, a car company could issue NFTs for certain models of cars that represent ownership of the car. The NFT would be then stored on a blockchain and which is transferable to another owner if the car is sold. NFT utility tokens is a key that unlocks access to a certain service or piece of content. This would allow content creators to monetize their work in a new and efficient way. Another use of NFT is to represent carbon credits ownership; Thus creating a market for carbon credits and helping to reduce emissions from businesses and individuals.

Businesses

If you are a brand, then using NFT to represent ownership of your products and services can allow you to create a new revenue stream by selling NFTs to customers. When it comes to representing loyalty points or rewards that are redeemable for goods or services there is nothing better than NFT. NFT effortlessly engage with the customers and builds loyalty. NFT in the business sector can be used it to ensure authenticity and stop piracy. As blockchain has the power to permenently store information about the product, checking how rare and how authentic the product is soon to become a thing on physical products. 

Another use of NFT is to store information on the manufacturing process and ensure that its a fair trade. Just give it thought, scanning the QR code of a nutritional supplement you bought online and seeing its entire journey - from manufacturing to shipment; how awesome it would be right? 

Real Estate

NFT in real estate can simplify and speed up transactions, enabling smart contracts for properties. NFTs could be used to transfer land deeds, provide proof of ownership, and even keep track of changes in property value over time with the use of timestamped NFTs. Like just imagine knowing everything about the property you wish to own with just a few taps on the phone. From when the property was built, who owned it first, what modifications were done, basically everything to the point you are purchasing. 

Medical 

Another application of NFT is for birth certificates for healthcare providers. With the blockchain nature of NFT, a lifelong identity for each child can be created in the blockchain and link it to the certificate. NFT ledgers are a safe method for storing sensitive medical data and provide easy access to authorized medical professionals to view records anytime. Hospitals, Health insurance companies, and other organizations have begun to explore how blockchain could help with improving hospital operations like verifying patient identities and recording medical procedures performed without compromising patients' confidentiality. 

Intellectual Property and Patents 

NFTs are excellent for safeguarding patents and intellectual property. Additionally, NFT tokens enable users to demonstrate their ownership of any piece of material, something that is not achievable with conventional IP rights instruments like trademarks and copyrights. You may determine who the owner of a specific IP is by using timestamps and the IP's complete history. The immutability of the NFT chain would allow the owner to always demonstrate that they were the original author of a piece of art. Similar to patents NFT can be used to guarantee ownership of innovation or invention. The data required for verification might also be provided by NFTs, providing a public ledger that records all transactions pertaining to patents. 

Academic Credentials

The practice of issuing paper certificates will become a thing of the past and NFTs will be used to record academic achievements. The information saved on the NFT chain cannot be changed or hacked into, and will serve as proof of attendance, degree achieved, and other significant information. By distributing tokens for each course finished and certifying any degrees achieved using smart contract verification methods, NFTs may build immutable records for the courses taken.

Supply Chain

Products, especially in the food business, have a big challenge when it comes to proving where they originated from, what's in them, and other things. But utilizing the blockchain, NFTs may be affixed to a product, providing it with an unchangeable NFT identification. All thanks to NFT, companies may be able to track their products from manufacture through shipment and delivery. This gives customers insight into what they are spending money on while maintaining transparency within a company’s supply chain

Ticketing

In the very near future, NFTs will take the place of tickets.

Preventing Fraud and Forgeries - Blockchain technology creates a single point of truth for both ticket buyers and organizers. All parties are able to independently confirm the validity of the ticket since the movement of NFTs from the first sale to the resale is immutably recorded on the blockchain.

Cost Savings - The costs associated with minting and selling NFTs are minimal compared to the former ticketing system. You might purchase an unforgeable ticket for less money during production.

Rapid Production - NFT may be minted and sold in under a minute.

Perpetual Revenue - The organizer can evaluate profit-sharing percentages for potential future resales or creative content on secondary markets and collect funds with the confidence that they will not be changed within the NFT's coding because programmable NFTs can include built-in rules for merchandise, content, resales, and royalty splits.

New Income Streams - NFT-based tickets can serve as programmable money that can create an infinite number of new revenue streams. For example, reselling NFT tickets as collectibles and utilizing tickets to offer food and beverages discounts, and rewarding people who have amassed a large number of event tickets.

Voting

When heading to the polls to cast their votes, voters are frequently asked to present a photo ID and proof of residence. But many people are losing their right to vote because they "do not have copies of their IDs or any kind of proof" that would attest to where they reside or even if they are registered to vote. NFTs can assist in resolving this issue since they would give those without official evidence of their identification and place of residence access to digital identity. As NFTs will act as an official record of people who voted and their votes, this will also aid in the elimination of voter fraud and cheating.

Fashion and Luxury

Let's examine the NFT initiatives brands have taken for the metaverse:

Adidas: The company recently unveiled the "Into the Metaverse" NFT line, which includes real clothes to complement virtual wearables that customers may use in the Metaverse. Within just one afternoon, all 30,000 NFTs were sold, bringing in more than $22 million for the business.

Balenciaga: The brand recently created four virtual attire and a variety of accessories for Fortnite avatars. 

Burberry: The company recently announced a collaboration with Mythical Games to launch NFTs in their player-owned flagship blockchain game, Blankos Block Party.  

Gucci: Gucci made news when a single bag went for $4,000 in the "Gucci Garden" pop-up world on the Roblox gaming platform, which sold the company's creations. 

Nike: Obtained the digital sneaker maker RTFKT Studios. Nike has created Nikeland, an immersive realm on Roblox with Nike-branded structures, arenas, and fields where users can engage in mini-game competitions. 

Prada: The company and Adidas jointly introduced a range of clothing and accessory items that bear the DNA of both brands and are ready to be minted as NFTs on the Polygon network. 

Ralph Lauren: In December 2021, the brand opened a new Roblox location that was open 24/7 and sold winter clothing in the Metaverse for around $5.

Uniqlo: Uniqlo recently joined forces with Microsoft to provide Minecraft players with virtual clothing.

Sports NFT

Do you remember those sports player cards we used to love when we were kids? These fun sports cards in our childhood are the greatest way to describe sports NFT. In certain games having these particular cards used to change our social standing as kids. And they even used to constantly change hands due to fighting or haggling. Similar to those player cards, NFT technology may be used to sell many aspects of the team and the game, such as significant moments in the sports world and special clips.

Deloitte Global estimates that in 2022, the global market for sports collectible NFTs would produce over $2 billion in sales, with four to five million sports enthusiasts worldwide having bought or received one. The most well-liked items in this market are probably limited-edition videos of athletic events or playing cards. 

Social Tokens

Social tokens may be used in a variety of ways, including to establish and reward fan communities and to reward oneself for creative work. They are available for purchase by community members and provide a range of tailored benefits within the local economy. Alternatively, the designer may distribute them to reward loyal followers.

Celebrity sportsmen and musicians like Grammy-winning guitarist RAC and rapper Lil Yachty have launched tokens to offer fans a stake in their work. Only the most devoted subscribers were eligible to acquire the $RAC tokens retrospectively; they were not purchasable.

Final Reflections

There are several NFT use cases outside of the art world, even if the majority of non-fungible tokens are still utilized to market digital artworks. NFTs may help brands in a variety of industries by providing a new revenue stream, increasing consumer happiness, and introducing innovation. Companies will use NFTs in the near future to tokenize any real-world assets.

One of the key advantages of NFT is that businesses may use blockchain to make ownership incorruptible. The development of novel NFT applications and the rising demand for this technology are projected to be the primary market drivers. In the future, NFTs could replace other digital channels as the main way that sellers and customers interact.