Pictures of Cats. Can NFTs do Anything for Gaming?

<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">NFTs &lpar;or Non-Fungible Tokens&rpar; are the latest buzzword in media and&comma; much like the many crazes that came before them&comma; have been just as polarising to an audience that’s still getting to grips with things like cryptocurrency&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;readersdigest&period;co&period;uk&sol;money&sol;investment&sol;harambe-ai-token-a-crypto-review">crypto tokens<&sol;a> and the blockchain&period; While all three of these concepts are related&comma; the difficulties associated with all things crypto has created a different path for each of them to mainstream understanding&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As NFTs continue to capture headlines and spark conversations&comma; the broader realm of cryptocurrency is also gaining increasing significance in the financial landscape&period; With the growing adoption of digital assets for investment&comma; trading&comma; and various other transactions&comma; the need for expert guidance in navigating the complexities of crypto-related activities becomes paramount&period; This is where the role of a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cryptotaxdegens&period;com&sol;">crypto tax advisor<&sol;a> becomes invaluable&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Furthermore&comma; as cryptocurrencies continue to evolve and integrate into mainstream finance&comma; the expertise of a crypto tax advisors becomes even more essential&period; Whether it&&num;8217&semi;s managing tax liabilities associated with crypto investments&comma; structuring transactions to minimize tax exposure&comma; or staying updated on regulatory developments&comma; a competent advisor can provide tailored guidance to meet the unique needs of each client&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Unfortunately &lpar;for the layperson&comma; at least&rpar;&comma; NFTs have already penetrated deep into modern life&period; US broadcaster Fox wants to create an NFT program based around its Masked Singer TV show while British casino Paddy Power already has an <&sol;span><span data-contrast&equals;"none">online slots<&sol;span><span data-contrast&equals;"auto"> game called NFT Megaways&period; Of course&comma; there&&num;8217&semi;s an immediate question to be answered here&comma; namely&comma; what are NFTs&quest;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">In brief&comma; NFTs are digital things that a person can own at <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;digitaleyes&period;market">Solana NFT Marketplace<&sol;a>&period; This can be a picture&comma; like the fake Banksy that was recently sold&comma; a one-of-a-kind song&comma; or some part of a virtual world&period; Much like any other good&comma; their value or perceived value is set by both the seller and the potential buyer&period; So&comma; while a rare song released by Kanye West might sell for thousands&comma; a picture of a dog drawn by a local graffiti artist might only have sentimental value &lpar;unless it actually is a Banksy this time&rpar;&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;pexels&period;com&sol;photos&sol;4438556&sol;pexels-photo-4438556&period;jpeg&quest;auto&equals;compress&amp&semi;cs&equals;tinysrgb&amp&semi;h&equals;750&amp&semi;w&equals;1260"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;pexels&period;com&sol;photos&sol;4438556&sol;pexels-photo-4438556&period;jpeg&quest;auto&equals;compress&amp&semi;cs&equals;tinysrgb&amp&semi;h&equals;750&amp&semi;w&equals;1260" width&equals;"1125" height&equals;"750" &sol;><&sol;a><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">This immediate acceptance in such disparate industries does say a lot about the potential of NFTs &&num;8211&semi; but what about in video gaming&quest;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;" aria-level&equals;"2"><b><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Digital Assets<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Adding NFTs to games would be simple&comma; as valuable items are already traded around like they’re Picasso’s paintbrushes&period; For example&comma; <&sol;span><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">an MMO character or a unique gun in a first-person shooter could have an NFT identifier in the blockchain&comma; which means that a record of its owner is set in digital stone&period; It could not be lost&comma; stolen&comma; or taken away&period; Ultimately&comma; though&comma; NFTs serve no purpose other than bestowing some kind of prestige upon the owner&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">The problem is that NFTs haven’t had a great start to life in gaming&comma; as the associated products tend to manifest in two separate parts&comma; namely&comma; a game and whatever relevant NFTs players can buy&period; Unfortunately&comma; there are already several examples of projects that only arrived with the promise of the game and nothing actually playable&period; Put another way&comma; people are trading digital assets for real-world cash to no particular end&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Are you planning to get a West Highland White Terrier&quest; Take a look at these <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;articleinsider&period;com&sol;west-highland-white-terrier&sol;">Westie celebrity owners<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;pexels&period;com&sol;photos&sol;5493062&sol;pexels-photo-5493062&period;jpeg&quest;auto&equals;compress&amp&semi;cs&equals;tinysrgb&amp&semi;h&equals;750&amp&semi;w&equals;1260"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;pexels&period;com&sol;photos&sol;5493062&sol;pexels-photo-5493062&period;jpeg&quest;auto&equals;compress&amp&semi;cs&equals;tinysrgb&amp&semi;h&equals;750&amp&semi;w&equals;1260" width&equals;"1125" height&equals;"750" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;span><i><&sol;i><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">While the previous is actually the basis of NFTs&comma; much like it is with baseball cards&comma; it’s not even close to the concept of video gaming&period; It has far more parallels with stock trading&period; So&comma; what would a properly NFT-incorporated game actually look like&quest; Cryptokitties&comma; a title about <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;cryptokitties&period;co&sol;"><span data-contrast&equals;"none">doing to cats<&sol;span><&sol;a><span data-contrast&equals;"auto"> what Pokémon players do to innocent monsters&comma; is a good example&comma; as it melds truly unique NFT cats with gameplay elements like breeding&comma; puzzle-solving&comma; and the pursuit of special feline traits&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Overall&comma; it’s hard to see NFTs becoming anything more than a popular niche within gaming or a tool that enables microtransactions&period; The related technologies blockchain and bitcoin still haven’t managed to break into entertainment so it’s unlikely that pictures of cats&comma; however cute and tradable&comma; will be able to either&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;