NFT use cases

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a type of digital asset that is unique, and cannot be replaced by another identical asset. This article describes the approaches and already implemented use cases of NFTs in TON Blockchain.

After reading this article, you will understand why are NFTs helpful and how you can use them in one of your projects.

Item ownership

Non-fungible tokens are mostly known as cool pictures that you can buy and sell on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea or getgems.io.

NFT pictures and collections are funny and help people understand the concept of blockchain-based ownership. However, in the long-term, the NFT focus should shift beyond this to illustrate their wide variety of potential use cases.

Support an artist

One of the initial motivations behind the development of NFTs was finding a way to support artists by buying their works packed as collections of NFTs stored in the blockchain.

In this way, artists could make money from selling new works and also from the royalties they would receive after the NFT was later resold on the market.

This is one of the most common reasons why marketplaces like getgems.io or OpenSea are part of the essential infrastructure of any blockchain nowadays.

Accounts as NFTs

In November, the Telegram team launched Fragment marketplace, where anyone can buy and sell Telegram usernames or Anonymous Numbers backed by an NFT on the TON Blockchain.

Moreover, in December the Telegram team released No-SIM sign-up. You can buy a virtual phone number as an NFT to sign up in the Telegram Messenger and ensure that your privacy is secured by the TON Blockchain.

Web3 Domain as an NFT

There is TON DNS service, which works fully onchain. It allows users to buy domains of format mystore.ton (the most convenient way to do that is via DNS marketplace), and ensures unused domains are returned into circulation by requiring owner to pay a small, fixed fee to renew the domain.

NFT Telegram usernames from Fragment can also be used in TON DNS; yourname.t.me is a valid domain.

Use cases of TON domains

1. You can set domain to resolve to your wallet address, so a person unfamiliar with crypto can transfer money not to EQDyo...zuDf but to easily readable mystore.ton.
2. You can attach a TON Site to the domain; then, it will be accessible in TON Web3 network under a convenient name.

Ticket as an NFT

NFT tickets provide an excellent solution for verifying access to events, like concerts or conferences.

Owning an NFT ticket offers several unique advantages:

First and foremost, NFT tickets cannot be forged or copied, eliminating the possibility of fraudulent sale of fake tickets. This ensures that buyers can trust the authenticity of the ticket and the legitimacy of the seller, giving them confidence in what they're paying for.

Secondly, NFT tickets open up exciting opportunities for collecting. As the owner of an NFT ticket, you can store it in your digital wallet and have access to a whole collection of tickets from various events. In particular, TON has created a leaderboard for participating in their conferences on society.ton.org. This creates a new form of aesthetic and financial satisfaction for music and art lovers.

Thirdly, NFT tickets provide accessibility and convenience. They can be easily transferred using digital wallets, freeing users from the hassle of physically receiving or sending tickets. The process of exchanging tickets with friends or purchasing them on the secondary market becomes simpler and more convenient.

Additionally, owning an NFT ticket can come with extra benefits and special privileges. Some artists or organizers may offer NFT ticket holders exclusive backstage access, meet-and-greets with artists, or other bonuses, adding to the unique cultural experience for NFT ticket holders.

Authorization token as an NFT

Using NFTs as authorization tokens introduces a revolutionary approach to granting access rights and permissions.

NFT tokens ensure elevated security and cannot be easily copied or forged. This eliminates the risk of unauthorized access or fake authentication, providing reliable authentication.

Furthermore, thanks to their transparency and traceability, the authenticity and ownership of an NFT authorization token can be easily verified. This enables quick and efficient verification, ensuring convenient access to various platforms, services, or restricted content.

It is also worth mentioning that NFTs provide flexibility and adaptability in managing permissions. Since NFTs can be programmatically encoded with specific access rules or attributes, they can adapt to different authorization requirements. This flexibility allows for fine-grained control over access levels, granting or revoking permissions as needed, which can be particularly valuable in scenarios that require hierarchical access or temporary authorization restrictions.

One of the services currently offering NFT authentication is Playmuse, a media service built on the TON blockchain. This service aims to attract Web3 musicians as well as other creators.

Owners of NFTs from Playmuse gain access to the holders chat. Being a participant in this chat provides opportunity to influence the development direction of the service, vote on various initiatives, and receive early access to presales and NFT auctions featuring renowned creators.

Access to the chat is facilitated through a Telegram bot, which verifies the presence of a Playmuse NFT in the user's wallet.

It is important to note that this is just one example, and as the TON ecosystem evolves, new services and technologies for authentication via NFTs may emerge. Keeping up with the latest developments in the TON space can help identify other platforms or open-source projects that provide similar authentication capabilities.

NFT as a virtual asset in games

NFT integrated to a game allows players to own and trade in-game items in a way that is verifiable and secure, which adds an extra layer of value and excitement to the game.