What's NFT and where it's hosted and on-chain/off-chain Definitions👇

What is NFT?

NFT's features and token standards
👇
1 Some abbreviations
2 Introduction
3 On-chain and off-chain concepts
4 On-chain
5 Off-chain
5.1 Metadata visual design
6 Off-chain storage solutions
6.1 Central servers
6.2 IPFS
7 Conclusion
↘️Some abbreviations
✔️ETH: Ethereum currency or token 's
✔️ERC-721: NFT Offering a standard for token type NFT
✔️(ERC-721): Non-fungible token, a unique token VR: ✔️Virtual Reality Dapper: Decentralised Application
✔️PoC: Proof of Concept, principles of evidence Proof of Concept (PoC), also known as proof of concept (PoC), is a concept used to realize a particular method or idea to demonstrate its applicability, or to verify that some concept or theory is practical.

↘️Login
Digital currencies allow billions of users to participate in the financial ecosystem. Therefore, the networks Blockchain based crypto currency units, decentralization, are embracing the idea of free trade and unlimited liquidity flow of digital assets.

There is a player in the crypto economy that promises to provide solutions to digital ownership and property rights, and to ensure that real-life assets reach their true value in the digital environment in terms of scarcity. It should not be forgotten that these features are of course derived from the ERC-721 token standard.

“ERC-721 defines a minimum interface that a smart contract must implement to allow unique / unique tokens to be managed, owned and traded. It does not stipulate a standard for token metadata or restrict adding additional functionality. "

In this way, NFT usage areas are unlimited within possibilities.

However, a considerable number of artists and designers do not lean towards the subject of NFT or take advantage of this technological leap because they cannot grasp the functioning, let alone take advantage of this technological leap, but there are also many who interpret it as a source of embarrassment to the art they perform.

Mark Cuban (American dollar billionaire businessman and owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA team) says:

“I don't think people understand that the real growth in NFTs is still not happening. Art, music, photos, short videos are just the beginning for Proof of Concept. ”

However, when we look at the subject from the perspective of a software developer, different from the artists' point of view, the development of NFTs on decentralized applications is both more difficult and longer than the Dapps we know. In addition, finding developers in this field brings along both expensive and serious searches.

Pablo Picasso - Wikipedia

“ Everything you imagine is real. " Pablo Picasso

↘️On-chain and off-chain concepts
Closeup shot of a brown leaf on a chain link fence Free Photo

Photo: Wirestock / Freepik
You've probably seen the above two concepts before, but what they are may not be entirely clear in your mind.

The two concepts here come into play in determining how and where these data will be stored at the access stage of NFT supported applications.

↘️On-chain

For developers, the first decision is which metadata will be represented on-chain or off-chain. So, "Do you place the metadata directly in the smart contract representing the tokens or do you host them separately?" Thanks to these two terms, we have determined the answer to the question.

✔️The benefits of representing metadata on the chain are:

Beyond the life cycle of any application, the token exists permanently.
On-chain can vary according to logic.
Item 1 is important if assets are intended to have a long-term value far beyond their original creation.

For example, a digital artwork is expected to continue through the ages regardless of whether the original website used to showcase the art is still around.

For example, in the case of CryptoKitties, a popular blockchain-based game, the "Logic" inside the smart contract should be able to read the metadata from its internal state, since the upbringing times of CryptoKitties vary depending on some parameters.

↘️Off-chain
Despite the above advantages, most projects store metadata off-chain. This is due to the current storage limitations of the Ethereum blockchain.

This is why the ERC721 standard includes a method called token URI by which developers can tell applications where to find metadata for a particular item.

function tokenURI (uint256 _tokenId) public view returns (string)

In its simplest form, the TokenURI method returns a public URL.

This metadata must conform to the official ERC721 metadata standard in order for the item information to be retrieved by applications such as OpenSea.

For example, OpenSea, with the developers in mind, has developed some advanced metadata standards through its open market platform; has created the " ERC721 Meta Data Standards " plugin for details such as detailed features of the product, animations and background colors .

↘️Metadata visual design
Display of NFT OpenSea Marketplace Metadata in JSON Format Code Format
Representation of metadata in code format in JSON format
In addition, the platform supports Enjin Metadata Standards .

↘️Off-chain storage solutions
If you are storing your metadata off-chain, don't worry, there are several options:

Central servers
cable network
Photo: Taylor Vick / Unsplash
The simplest way to store metadata is with a central server in one place or a cloud storage solution such as AWS.

Of course, this has disadvantages:

The developer can change the metadata at any time.
If the project goes offline (if the server goes down or a network connectivity problem occurs), metadata may be lost from its original source.
To create a better alternative to problem # 2, there are several services (including OpenSea) that will cache metadata on their servers to ensure that even if the original hosting solution crashes, it is efficiently available to users.

↘️IPFS

A growing number of developers, especially in the digital arts space, are using the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to store metadata off-chain. IPFS is a peer-to-peer file storage system that allows content to be hosted between computers for replication of the file in many different locations.

This ensures that the metadata is immutable, as it is uniquely handled by the file attached to the Hash function, and the data will persist as long as there are noders willing to host the data.

🚨Result
Platforms such as OpenSea, which is the largest NFT market, contribute greatly to the leaps in the NFT area with more user addresses and number of product transactions.

The art world underestimates or rejects NFT technology, which is the sub-domain of the blockchain discipline for the production of next-generation economic alternatives. There are many artists who think otherwise.

However, the lack of experience, the fact that the regulatory infrastructures have not yet become stable, the high fee rates caused by the dominance of Ethereum in the NFT markets, and the new entrants who are interested in this field, saying "I do not know a code" or "this area is too technical". For various reasons, such as judgment, the NFT still seems to take quite a while to reach its true potential.

Thanks to solutions such as off-chain and on-chain, I have no doubt that Metadata will be the lifeblood of the NFT area and will have brand new features that will meet the demands of the age.

Of course, there will be tons of problems during the adaptation process. However, I recommend that you get information from competent people and reliable sources in order to understand NFT correctly and learn its limits and risks.

You may soon realize that you are quite wrong if you are thinking of using this technology only for value exchange and income generation.

“Art doesn't have to be beautiful. It must be meaningful. " - Duane Hanson

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_concept

[2] https://opensea.io/blog/guides/non-fungible-tokens