10 Practical NFT Use Cases Beyond Digital Artworks

 

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a new technology that has already seen a wide range of applications outside of the traditional NFT use – which is now mostly used to trade artwork and gaming characters.

It's odd to think of it in terms other than digital stuff or 2D or 3D graphics, yet it has various real-world applications, a few of which are listed below.

1. Ensuring Authenticity of Products

NFTs can be used to verify the authenticity of an item you're buying. Because the blockchain can store product information permanently, tangible products will be able to be tested for uniqueness and validity in the near future. 

NFTs may also be used to keep track of the production process, ensuring that everything is done fairly. Fake foods, such as supplements and medication, are a current concern around the globe; NFTs can assist tackle this by tracking and tracing food products. 

Because the track record is clear, items that falsely claim to be created and supplied in a given nation will ultimately be discovered.

2. Real Estate

NFTs and real estate are a match made in heaven. Timestamped NFTs might be used to transfer land documents, offer confirmation of ownership, and even track changes in property value over time.

NFTs may be used in real estate to simplify and speed up transactions, enable smart contracts for properties (enabling automated payments), and even build decentralised house rental services, all while safeguarding sensitive data such as credit card numbers.

3. Medical Records and Identity Verification

Because NFT transactions are validated on multiple nodes before being permanently added to the blockchain, NFT ledgers can store an individual's medical records without jeopardising confidentiality or risking tampering from outside sources. 

This assures that every record is correct and safe from fraudulent alteration efforts. NFT apps have been created expressly to assist healthcare workers, such as NFT Birth Certificates, which healthcare practitioners may issue to infants.

Issuing one of these NFTs to each kid can be a quick and easy method to establish a lifetime identity on the blockchain that is connected to their birth certificate and then validated with NFT verification applications.

NFT ledgers also offer a safer way to store sensitive medical information while still enabling authorised healthcare practitioners access when needed. 

In recent years, a number of narrowly defined NFT use cases have emerged, with hospitals, health insurance companies, and other organisations exploring how blockchains could help improve hospital operations by verifying patient identities and recording medical procedures without jeopardising patient confidentiality.

4. Intellectual Property and Patents

Patents and intellectual property are well-protected using NFTs. Traditional IP rights methods like trademarks and copyrights don't allow users to prove ownership of any piece of work, but NFT tokens do.

The timestamps and the IP's whole history can be used to establish who owns an IP address. The NFT chain would be immutable, meaning that at any point of time, the NFT owner could establish they were the original originator of a piece of work.

The same can be said for patents: NFTs may be used to protect and authenticate ownership of an invention or idea. NFTs might potentially offer the essential data for verification, resulting in the creation of a public ledger that records all patent transactions.

5. Academic Credentials

NFTs can also be used to display academic qualifications. NFTs may be used to offer evidence of attendance, degrees achieved, and other essential data that is recorded on the NFT chain and cannot be changed or hacked. 

By distributing tokens for each course finished and certifying any degrees achieved using smart contract verification methods, NFTs may generate immutable records for courses done.

6. Supply Chain

Items in the food business, have a significant challenge in terms of validating where they originated from, what's in them, and so on. NFTs, on the other hand, maybe linked to a product via the blockchain, giving it a unique NFT identity that can't be changed. 

This is a great illustration of how NFTs and the supply chain may work together. Furthermore, NFTs can enable businesses to trace their items from manufacture to shipment and delivery. 

Customers can see what they're spending their money on, and the supply chain is transparent as well.

7. Gaming Industry

NFTs may be implemented into the gaming business by allowing cross-platform gameplay. NFTs provide game developers with a new way to extend their brand and make money, while gamers who already own characters or items in a game are more inclined to keep playing it.

NFTs also make trading in games easier, which might boost the value of NFT objects in games, which can vary in rarity. Because there is no middleman, NFT owners won't have to worry about fraud. 

Transactions are completed instantaneously over the blockchain. This is the use case that games like Axie Infinity and other forthcoming blockchain games are already taking full advantage of.

8. Ticketing

In the near future, NFTs will be utilised to replace tickets. Parking permits, for example, can be substituted with NFT tickets that have been allocated a unique ID, which you subsequently use to validate your entry into the restricted area.

This eliminates difficulties with fraud and decreases paper consumption because NFT owners only require one token rather than several copies (much like we don't print our money). 

9. Artwork Tracking

Many works of art were lost after World War II. Some were counterfeited, while others were stolen by individuals, organisations, and other entities. Original artworks by past masters will soon be identified and tracked using NFTs. 

Of course, this also applies to yet-to-be-created tangible artworks. This might work in both directions. NFTs can be transformed into actual art, and physical art can be turned into NFTs (while maintaining the digital token).

It can assist in determining the authenticity of a piece and reducing or eliminating counterfeit artwork in circulation. This also assures that NFT owners' property is genuine, especially if they purchased it through an auction house.

10. Voting

When voting in many countries, voters must carry a picture ID and proof of residency with them to the polling station. 

Many people, however, are losing their right to vote because they don't have copies of their IDs or any other evidence that proves where they reside or if they are even registered to vote.

NFTs can assist alleviate this problem by providing a digital identification for persons who lack physical paperwork proving their identity and where they live in the country.

This will also help to prevent voter fraud and cheating since NFTs will serve as an official record of who voted and how they voted.

So although the use cases for NFT are still in their infancy, it is apparent that not just games, but also average people going about their daily lives would benefit.

Not only will this make many services easier to use, but it will also boost transparency in many transactions, particularly when it comes to the ownership of tangible objects like artworks, real estate, concepts, and ideas. 

We’ll see further progress in this subject in the next years, and at the rate, things are moving, you might not even notice it's already here.

Written By – Devika Mishra