Company
Date Published
Author
Chainlink
Word count
39
Language
Chinese
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Blockchain technology, most famously applied in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, enables direct value transfer without intermediaries. The advent of programmable smart contracts has broadened blockchain's applications, allowing for the creation of fungible tokens, such as stablecoins used in decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which represent unique assets like digital art, gaming items, and collectibles. NFTs, verified and tracked on public blockchains, provide a proof of ownership and are described as anti-counterfeiting certificates issued by the original creator. The NFT market has witnessed a surge since the 2017 release of CryptoKitties, leading to the development of high-performance blockchain solutions and standardized protocols like ERC721 and ERC1155, which have facilitated the growth of NFT marketplaces such as Rarible and OpenSea. NFTs empower artists to monetize digital artworks, create new in-game experiences, and tokenize real-world assets for enhanced liquidity. Additionally, the importance of verifiable random functions (VRF), like Chainlink VRF, ensures fairness in the creation and distribution of rare NFTs by providing secure, tamper-proof random numbers. While NFTs are still in their infancy, they hold significant potential for innovation and efficiency in asset ownership transfer, minimizing dependency on intermediaries and maximizing value retention for creators and markets.