{"id":13333,"date":"2023-04-25T02:54:16","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T02:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/?p=13333"},"modified":"2022-06-30T21:59:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T21:59:11","slug":"what-is-an-erc-721-token","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token","title":{"rendered":"What is an ERC-721 token?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Alternar tabla de contenidos\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#what_is_an_erc-721_token\" >What is an ERC-721 token?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#history_of_non-fungible_tokens\" >History of non-fungible tokens<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#the_creation_of_metaverses_and_%e2%80%9cearn_to_play%e2%80%9d_games\" >The creation of metaverses and \u201cearn to play\u201d games<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#ethereum_and_open-source\" >Ethereum and open-source<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#erc_standards\" >ERC Standards<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#other_uses_of_non-fungible_tokens\" >Other uses of non-fungible tokens<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-721-token\/#a_look_into_the_future\" >A look into the future<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span><p><strong>ERC-721<\/strong>\u00a0tokens were born on the\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0network, standing out for their\u00a0<strong>scarcity or uniqueness,<\/strong>\u00a0which has led them to reach truly unexpected quotations.<\/p>\n<p>It is in their wake that just over a year after the boom of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/defi-use-cases\/\">DeFi<\/a>\u00a0platforms, the\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0network, and as a consequence the entire crypto ecosystem, is involved in a new explosion that is attracting not only attention, but also a huge amount of capital.<\/p>\n<p>It is \u201c<strong>NFT fever<\/strong>\u201c, but behind these collectibles, whose value lies in their\u00a0<strong>rarity or scarcity<\/strong>, we find a standard that guarantees the proper functioning of these tokens that managed to revolutionize the market.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what_is_an_erc-721_token\"><\/span><strong>What is an ERC-721 token?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"fusion-dropcap dropcap\">An ERC-721 token is a class of tokens with certain characteristics\u00a0<strong>created on the Ethereum network<\/strong>. These were designed with the purpose of creating tokens that are interchangeable but at the same time have the particularity of being\u00a0<strong>unique and non-fungible<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This means that no two ERC-721s will ever be the same and this makes their rarity a valuable quality for users. Precisely for this reason, one of the main applications ERC-721s have found is in collectibles.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"history_of_non-fungible_tokens\"><\/span><strong>History of non-fungible tokens<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In June 2017, a few months before the proposal of the\u00a0<strong>ERC-721<\/strong>\u00a0standard, the\u00a0<strong>Larva Labs<\/strong>\u00a0team launched the\u00a0<strong>CryptoPunks<\/strong>\u00a0project. It was a series of\u00a0<strong>10,000 unique and unrepeatable NFTs<\/strong>\u00a0(non-fungible tokens) inspired by the London Punk scene, cyberpunk culture and certain novels that gave impetus to this movement. Each one of them, a simple digital image, possesses unique and unrepeatable features, which added to the historical weight of being the first major NFT project generated on the\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0network, provide each CryptoPunk with an extremely high collectible value. The record sale price is held by<strong>\u00a0CryptoPunk number 3100, sold for an amount of 7.51 million dollars.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A few months later, the potential of these tokens reached unimagined magnitudes with the famous\u00a0<strong>Crypto Kitties<\/strong>\u00a0project. The Axiom Zen team went one step further and created the\u00a0<strong>first NFT-based game built<\/strong>\u00a0on a blockchain, allowing users to buy, breed and sell virtual kittens.<\/p>\n<p>The project enjoyed such popularity that it generated congestion on the<strong>\u00a0Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0network, which drove the price of gas to record highs, surpassed only a couple of years later during the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/main-defi-platforms\/\">DeFi summer<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n<p>Inspired by the code generated by these two projects, a group of developers proposed the\u00a0<strong>ERC-721<\/strong>\u00a0standard. Subsequently, organizations such as\u00a0<strong>Open Zepellin<\/strong>, took charge of\u00a0<strong>auditing this standard and offered it free<\/strong>\u00a0of charge to any developer who wanted to implement non-fungible tokens in a simple and secure way, simply by copying and pasting the code, and then making the necessary modifications or adaptations to it.<\/p>\n<div id=\"image_688646934\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-1024x472.jpeg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-1024x472.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-300x138.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-768x354.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ.jpeg 1198w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1020\" height=\"470\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-1024x472.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-300x138.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-768x354.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ.jpeg 1198w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ROBDVO4PFNFULOLBIK3DGUO5KQ-1024x472.jpeg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the_creation_of_metaverses_and_%e2%80%9cearn_to_play%e2%80%9d_games\"><\/span><strong>The creation of metaverses and \u201cearn to play\u201d games<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>After these successful experiments with this type of tokens, we find ourselves with the development or creation of metaverses.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, a<strong>\u00a0metaverse is a digital universe<\/strong>\u00a0in which\u00a0<strong>human beings interact with each other<\/strong>\u00a0represented\u00a0<strong>by an avatar or virtual character.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The case of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-decentraland-the-real-estate-metaverse\/\">Decentraland<\/a>, a metaverse based on\u00a0<strong>NFT<\/strong>\u00a0and deployed on the\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0blockchain, is undoubtedly the most renowned. In this\u00a0<strong>virtual world<\/strong>, each user can acquire a piece of land where to build his own structure with the purpose that each owner wants. There are famous casinos or museums, in which digital works of art are exhibited, where everything we observe is an\u00a0<strong>NFT<\/strong>\u00a0that was created based on the\u00a0<strong>ERC-721<\/strong>\u00a0standard.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, if we talk about\u00a0<strong>NFT<\/strong>, we can\u2019t forget to mention the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/win-cryptocurrencies-playing-axie-infinity-quick-guide\/\">Axie Infinity<\/a>\u00a0game.<\/p>\n<p>It is a game, in which users must acquire a team of three\u00a0<strong>Axies<\/strong>, a kind of characters with unique characteristics, which through fights and daily missions reward their owners with fungible tokens that can then be used to reproduce these\u00a0<strong>Axies<\/strong>\u00a0and sell them in a\u00a0<strong>marketplace<\/strong>, or otherwise exchanged for other fungible tokens.<\/p>\n<div id=\"image_1727189703\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Copia-de-1Qu%C3%A9-es-un-token-ERC-721-1.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Copia-de-1Qu\u00e9-es-un-token-ERC-721-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Copia-de-1Qu\u00e9-es-un-token-ERC-721-1-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Copia-de-1Qu\u00e9-es-un-token-ERC-721-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Copia-de-1Qu\u00e9-es-un-token-ERC-721-1-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Copia-de-1Qu\u00e9-es-un-token-ERC-721-1.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"ethereum_and_open-source\"><\/span><strong>Ethereum and open-source<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now, you may be wondering, what is a standard in\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>, and why would everyone use the same code to develop their\u00a0<strong>NFT<\/strong>\u00a0collections? Relax, now it\u2019s my turn to give a bit of\u00a0<strong>context<\/strong>\u00a0on these points.<\/p>\n<p>Undoubtedly the launch of\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>, more than 6 years ago, caused a revolution in the blockchain ecosystem. The concept of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-smart-contract\/\">smart contracts<\/a>\u00a0gave rise to\u00a0<strong>decentralized applications<\/strong>\u00a0that, after years of refinement, converged into the phenomena we are privileged to observe and enjoy today.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201c<strong>open-source<\/strong>\u201d spirit that dominates the scene facilitates the innate collaboration between software developers working in the industry, resulting in a synergy that is rarely seen before.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"erc_standards\"><\/span><strong>ERC Standards<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Pursuing these ideals, the community that gathers around\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0works together to achieve standards that facilitate the development of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-smart-contract\/\">smart contracts<\/a>, which have guarantees of good performance, and also manages to avoid the famous premise of \u201c<strong>not reinventing the wheel<\/strong>\u201d when developing on the network.<\/p>\n<p>In this regard, in 2015, precisely in the month of November, Fabian Vogelsteller proposed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erc-20-token\/\">ERC-20<\/a>, which defines a standard for \u201c<strong>fungible tokens<\/strong>\u201c.<\/p>\n<p>This category of tokens, have the property that each of them, as long as they are issued for the same contract, will be identical in type and value. In this way they mimic the behavior of the native currencies of a blockchain, as is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/where-to-buy-ethereum\/\">ETH<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0network.<\/p>\n<p>To understand the fungibility property of a token, nothing better than an example: each\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-dai-the-complete-guide\/\">DAI<\/a>,\u00a0<strong>ERC-20<\/strong>\u00a0token, issued by the contract created for this purpose will be identical regardless of the time of its creation, the first\u00a0<strong>DAI<\/strong>\u00a0issued having the same value as the last one created.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2018, William Entriken, Dieter Shirley, Jacob Evans, Nastassia Sachs, proposed\u00a0<strong>ERC-721<\/strong>, known as the standard for \u201c<strong>non-fungible tokens<\/strong>\u201c, which by logical contraposition with the standard explained in the previous paragraph, we can quickly imagine that the\u00a0<strong>main characteristics<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0<strong>non-fungibility<\/strong>, will be that of\u00a0<strong>being unique, scarce<\/strong>\u00a0or at least\u00a0<strong>not identical<\/strong>\u00a0to another token issued by the same contract.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"other_uses_of_non-fungible_tokens\"><\/span><strong>Other uses of non-fungible tokens<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Although we are going through the\u00a0<strong>NFT<\/strong>\u00a0fever (which today transcended the\u00a0<strong>Ethereum<\/strong>\u00a0network, reaching\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/all-about-solana-sol\/\">Solana<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-and-how-it-works-avalanche-avax\/\">Avalanche<\/a>\u00a0among others) expressed in the sale and purchase of \u201c<strong>digital art<\/strong>\u201d for millions of dollars and \u201c<strong>play to earn<\/strong>\u201d games, the\u00a0<strong>ERC-721<\/strong>\u00a0standard is flexible enough to adapt to uses with which we are not yet familiar.<\/p>\n<p>The premise of \u201c<strong>everything is tokenizable<\/strong>\u201d was born thanks to the popularization of this standard.<\/p>\n<p>Through it countless assets could be \u201ctokenized\u201d and register their ownership on a blockchain by taking advantage of the\u00a0<strong>main features<\/strong>\u00a0it provides:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">advertising<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">transparency<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">immutability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"a_look_into_the_future\"><\/span><strong>A look into the future<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>From here on, the options are endless. Tokenization of physical works of art, musical themes, movable and immovable assets and physical contracts are some of the possibilities that are being discussed in the ecosystem cores.<\/p>\n<p>Although progress will have to contend with local legislation regulating this type of asset, the possibilities derived from the\u00a0<strong>ERC-721<\/strong>\u00a0standard are far from being exhausted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span>ERC-721\u00a0tokens were born on the\u00a0Ethereum\u00a0network, standing out for their\u00a0scarcity or uniqueness,\u00a0which has led them to reach truly unexpected quotations. It is in their wake that just over a year after the boom of\u00a0DeFi\u00a0platforms, the\u00a0Ethereum\u00a0network, and as a consequence the entire crypto ecosystem, is involved in a new explosion that is attracting not only attention, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrencies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}