Why Your NFTs are Now More Important Than You Think: The IRL Benefits of NFTs
NFTs are slowly but surely bridging the gap between the digital and physical world.
While once considered a purely digital asset, many NFT creators are proving to investors and critics alike that the true power of NFTs is not just their digital value but their potential to provide owners with real-world benefits.
Event tickets, loyalty cards, club memberships, physical items — just about everything can be purchased and accessed on-chain. What’s more is that some of the biggest NFT innovators are even working on projects to create physical art exhibits and displays, helping to create greater cultural value for NFTs as well.
This piece will cover three of the biggest IRL benefits of NFTs to know about in 2022. Keep reading to learn all about the real-life value these digital assets have to offer and why they are more important now than ever thought possible.
Plus, we’ll cover how you can keep your NFTs secure with Webacy.
3 Major IRL Benefits of NFTs
Not every NFT is built or designed the same — as such, different NFT creators or DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) offer varying benefits and uses for their NFTs.
As real-world applications for NFTs have become more robust, so have the potential benefits these blockchain assets have to offer. Understanding the many IRL advantages you stand to gain from owning an NFT is key to seeing the true value these digital assets hold.
Keeping this in mind, let’s look at 3 of the biggest examples of real-world NFT benefits accessible via NFTs that are currently available on the market:
1. Event Tickets
One of the major IRL uses for NFTs nowadays is using them as event tickets.
NFTs can offer investors more than just a digital asset that accrues value over time. In addition to investment value, an NFT creator or organization can choose to make the NFT the equivalent of an event pass or ticket that grants the owner access to concerts, festivals, and more.
Moreover, these NFT event tickets can also provide owners with additional perks, such as guaranteed access to future or upcoming events.
A great example of this use of NFTs is VeeCon — a four-day conference all about Web3, digital assets, and digital transformation hosted by NFT creator Gary Vaynerchuk. Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur and creator of the “VeeFriends” NFT collection available for purchase through Ethereum.
According to a 2022 report from CNBC, owners of VeeFriends tokens receive a smart contract that not only allows Vaynerchuk to interact with them directly but also provides exclusive access to the VeeCon event for up to 3 years after the original purchase of the token.
After Vaynerchuk had announced a potential partnership with Snoop Dogg and holders of the ticket NFT, the value of the NFT surged to approximately 1 ETH, providing many NFT holders the opportunity to pay off their entire trip to Veecon itself.
2. Access to Memberships & Club
In a similar vein to event tickets, another popular IRL benefit that NFT creators include in their tokens is a smart contract that provides access to exclusive memberships or clubs.
One of the most well-known examples of this is the Flyfish Club (FFC), a restaurant that advertises itself as the “world’s first member’s only private dining club” powered through NFT ownership. To gain access to one of these memberships, you must own the Flyfish Membership NFT.
A huge differentiator between the FFC and more traditional membership clubs is that once a person owns the NFT, they do not have to pay recurring annual fees. Furthermore, anyone with the financial means can purchase this NFT, as there is no application process required.
Additionally, FFC NFT owners will never be required to pay to make a reservation — instead, all they must do is verify their NFT ownership. Plus, these NFTs are tradeable on secondary markets (like OpenSea, for example), meaning owners can also trade this membership NFT as it gains more value, or if they no longer want to be a member (ex. if they move cities).
According to a January 2022 Markets Insider report, the premium version of membership is valued at nearly $14,000 (USD) and the club plans to officially launch in mid-2023.
3. NFT-Enabled Artwork Displayed IRL
Many NFT creators and organizations are looking for innovative ways to increase the intersection of blockchain technology and the real world.
One such project is NFT | IRL, a physical NFT exhibition that uses geolocation technology and a digital platform to enable users to discover the real-life versions of NFT-enabled artworks. This project has the potential to drastically alter the NFT landscape, helping to bridge the gap between the digital benefits of NFTs and the real-world value and accessibility of physical art exhibits.
Physical exhibitions of NFT artwork are rapidly becoming a topic of great interest amongst investors. For example, the LAGO Frame is a physical product NFT owners can purchase to display their NFTs within their homes, offices, galleries, etc.
Final Thoughts: Protect Your Valuable NFTs with Webacy
Your life is being impacted both digitally and in real life by NFTs and blockchain technology. Real life implications are only going to be more profound as the technology grows.
As such, it is more important than ever to keep your NFTs secure. Proper protection is paramount for digital assets, just as it is for physical assets like homes and cars.
To ensure the safety, longevity, and value of your NFTs, you want to ensure you protect your access to your digital assets with key protection products like Ledger (hardware wallets), and also with smart contract protection plans like Webacy.
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