10 Types of NFT Utility Explained

December 7, 2021

The different ways we can use NFTs beyond art.

Image version
Text version

NFTs used to be just art.

Now it's becoming more than that.

Here's the new web3 trend.

NFT "utility".

If you're new to NFTs, check out this video by Whiteboard Crypto: "What is an NFT?"

Types of NFT Utilities

NFT utility means that these NFTs now have functional uses for them.

Here are 10 examples:

Event Access

NFTs like Bored Ape Yacht Club are used for exclusive member-only access to events and parties.

Discord Channels

Collab.Land allows only people with specific NFTs to be part of Discord channels.

Physical Items

You can use NFTs to get physical versions of your art (RTFKT has sneaker NFTs and you can get the actual sneakers).

Voting

NFTs can be used to vote for organization decisions. Also known as governance.

Breeding

You can use NFTs to create new NFTs. You can breed 2 CryptoKitties together to get a "baby" NFT.

Merging

Some NFTs let you merge 2 NFTs to create 1. This decreases the total number of NFTs in that collection.

Burning

Some NFTs let you burn them (aka use them up). This removes those NFTs from circulation permanently.

Airdrops

Airdropping means the owner gives them away for free to people.

Fractional Ownership

You can own part of an NFT. Flamingo DAO and Fractional.Art seamlessly let you do this.

Staking

Staking means you lock up your NFT to earn rewards. NFTs like Wolf Game let you earn their native token $WOOL. You can earn ~$1000 per day by staking 1 NFT.

Companies to Watch:

Cyberkongz: used NFTs to produce $BANANA tokens

Bored Ape Yacht Club: hosted exclusive events for NFT holders

RTFKT: gave physical versions of their sneaker NFTs

Cryptokitties: innovated with NFT breeding

Wolf Game: NFTs can be staked

Collab.Land: used to moderate access in discord channels

Snapshot: voting and governance with NFTs and tokens

Flamingo DAO: DAO for fractionalized NFTs

Fractional: buy and sell fractionalized NFTs

3 NFT Utility Startup Opportunities:

Purchase Utility NFTs

Be at the forefront of new NFT utilities by using them yourself. Experiment with what's possible.

The next NFT utility

What are some creative ways we can be using NFTs? Games are already experimenting with NFTs being "heroes" that can even go on quests.

NFT Management Tools

More organizations are experimenting with using NFT utilities. Are there any solutions that can make this easier? Is there a tool they can use to create their own NFT staking mechanisms?

Sources

https://hackernoon.com/4-new-nft-projects-with-utility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0U4o5TBYV4

Community Highlight

Join the Smoothie Newsletter

This is a special newsletter. Every week, we deconstruct the best crypto trends and share those insights with you.