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Popular blockchain platforms

Understand different blockchain platforms and related NFT standards, so you can make the right choice.


NFTs are all the rage right now, they may not have become so popular that everyone, even parents, may have heard of it. But if they continue to grow at the current rate, that day will not be far away.

Celebrities like Grimes and Paris Hilton are selling their work (or listing it for sale) as NFTs. Whether you're interested in buying or selling your own NFT, there are a few things you need to know. First of all they are different blockchain standards available for NFT generation. Knowing about them will help you choose the best standard for your needs. Here is a look at it.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a decentralized database managed by a network of peer-to-peer computers. Since it is decentralized, there is no central authority (for most blockchains, although private blockchains do exist).

Every transaction on the blockchain that exists in blocks has been verified and validated by the computer network. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp, and transaction data.

Manipulating one block in the blockchain changes the information in all subsequent blocks. To avoid getting caught after manipulating a block, a hacker would have to change at least 51% of the block, which would require a significant amount of time and resources.

Due to this structure of the blockchain, it is considered secure without the need for a secure third party. Blockchains are bringing about the era of Web3, where user-generated content is distributed across user-owned platforms. This is in stark contrast to today's dominant trend, when our content is distributed on centralized networks like Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are tokens that exist on blockchains. They have unique IDs associated with a specific address on the chain. An item that you are minting or purchasing as an NFT does not exist on its own on the blockchain. Instead, the token has comprehensive metadata and a unique ID that holds information about the asset.

Although most popular for crypto and now, NFT, blockchain has a wide application that we can see in the future.

Why is a Blockchain Important for NFT?

There are different blockchain platforms emerging. But why is a blockchain important when you choose to mint or buy NFTs? There are a few reasons:
  • Transaction costs: Every transaction on the blockchain costs money. Although, NFTs that recently made the news have sold for millions or hundreds or thousands of dollars, not all NFTs are like that. In fact, most NFTs don't even sell, let alone make tons of profits. So choosing a cost-effective blockchain is very important.
  • Powerful Smart Contracts: NFTs are implemented using Smart Contracts. The smart contract fulfills the contract's conditions on its own, without the need for an intermediary. A blockchain should have anti-trick code for smart contracts as they are the backbone of blockchain transactions. Inefficient smart contracts can lead to fraud. Furthermore, the token should not be sent to a contract that does not understand it, otherwise the token may be lost. The blockchain standard should have safeguards against it.
  • Speed: The speed of transactions on the blockchain is of paramount importance. If transactions take too long to complete, it creates a bottleneck. In such cases, you have to bribe (tipping) miners to fast track transactions or wait a long time. The long time it takes to complete transactions also provides attackers with more opportunities to forge them. But the important thing is that speed doesn't come at the cost of compromised security. While it may seem like an obvious thing, it happens in many blockchains.
  • Security: A blockchain must be secure from attackers, otherwise you will lose your data as well as your resources. Also, the possibility of fork will be negligible on a blockchain. Hard forks can copy NFTs. Uniqueness and rarity are the cornerstones of NFT. Forking can make the value of the NFT even zero, thus costing you your assets.
  • Different blockchain standards also provide integration across different markets, interoperability, and the ability to use the token in more places and applications.
They are also important when looking for the NFT market. You need to know which standard the market supports in order to be able to choose a blockchain-enabled standard that you want to use.

Therefore, choosing a blockchain that meets the basic requirements is a must. But you should also see what additional needs you want it to fulfill.

Ethereum Blockchain

The Ethereum Blockchain is the original blockchain for the NFT. It is a scalable platform that uses smart contracts. The ERC721 standard built on the Ethereum blockchain was one of the first standards created for the NFT. It remains one of the most widely used blockchains for NFT minting.

Ethereum works on a proof-of-work system. Proof-of-work systems require miners to solve complex algorithms to generate new blocks, validate transactions, and add them to blocks. Miners are awarded Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, specifically Ether (ETH), for their successful calculations – this is known as ETH mining. Since miners are required to expend large amounts of energy, it acts as a safeguard against bad behavior.

The proof-of-work system is an energy-intensive system. As such, it is heavily criticized for the amount of energy used to mint or sell NFTs. But aside from the environmental consequences, all transactions on Ethereum require gas fees. Gasoline fee is a term used to denote the fee you pay to use the Ethereum blockchain network like you need gas to drive your car.

Since the Ethereum network is in high demand these days, the price of gas for NFT mining is also increasing.

Ethereum will soon switch to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm. So instead of miners, Ethereum will have distributors. The proof-of-stake system requires players to have a stake in the network. Bettors will need to own and stake some of their ETH to validate the network. Anytime if they act maliciously online, they will lose some or all of their deposit as a penalty. Distributors will receive profits from their staked ETH to motivate them to help run the network.

The transition to a proof-of-stake system will change the face of Ethereum, leading to ETH 2.0.

There are also several standards for NFTs on Ethereum. The token standard defines the smart contract the NFT will have, as well as the token's features.

The most popular Ethereum standard is ERC721, which we mentioned above. It's the standard that marketplaces like Rarible, SuperRare, OpenSea, Nifty Gateway, and many others use.

It's a trusted standard that generates only fungible tokens. However, there are a few downsides, the most obvious of which is the high gas cost. Its scalability and congestion pose another problem.

Although ERC721 is the most popular standard, there are also other NFT standards based on the Ethereum blockchain.

ERC1155, an NFT standard created by the NFT marketplace Enjin, combines multiple tokens (even fungible and non-fungible) on the same contract. Therefore, it requires less network power.

Another standard, ERC994, creates an authorized NFT that allows the attachment of physical assets to digital tokens.

Flow Blockchain

Created specifically for NFT, Flow is a high performance blockchain. There is an interesting story behind the creation of this blockchain. The people who created one of the first blockchain games, Cryptokitties are also the people behind Flow.

Cryptokitties is an NFT based game that allows you to collect and breed NFT cats. It launched on the Ethereum blockchain in 2017. It became so popular that it almost took down the entire Ethereum network.

The volume of transactions related to Cryptokitties has created such a bottleneck that transactions on the network have almost completely stopped. It took days and huge gas costs to solve the problem.

So the team decided to create an ideal blockchain for crypto games and collectibles. Flow blockchain provides intensive scalability. And unlike Ethereum, it does not use sharding techniques. Transactions on Flow are also fast and efficient with no exorbitant fees.

It's a perfect blockchain for gamers and collectibles, making it highly desirable for dapps (decentralized applications) like the NFT marketplace. Popular Flow dapps include NBA Top Shot, where you can buy and own clips from the NBA and WNBA. Others include UFC, Dr. Seuss, NFL, to name a few. Even Cryprokitties will soon migrate to the Flow blockchain from Ethereum.

Flow's native cryptocurrency drives transactions on the platform. It uses a proof-of-stake algorithm that keeps transaction costs on the network low while remaining eco-friendly.

One of the most desirable characteristics of the Flow blockchain is that anyone can become a validator (in other words, a miner) for the network without the need for specialized equipment.

Flow divides validator roles into 4 groups. This division makes the network fast. As an authenticator, you can join the network using one of the following capabilities:

  • Consensus nodes ensure decentralization
  • Execution nodes enable speed and scale
  • Collection buttons increase efficiency
  • Verification buttons ensure correctness
  • This allows anyone to join the Flow, although the financial and computational levels will vary.

There are other features that make the Flow blockchain highly attractive to NFTs.

Finally quickly, determine:

The term 'Finality' refers to the time required before a user or client software can be sure that their transaction has become part of the blockchain. This last count is a measure of the speed of the blockchain network.

The famous cryptocurrency blockchain Bitcoin has a final time of about an hour. Ethereum has a final probability of about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, Flow achieves final determinism within seconds. Splitting validators into separate nodes helps achieve this powerful speed.

Smart user accounts don't need root words:

Most crypto wallets have a seed phrase that you can use to restore access to your wallet in case you lose it. But Dapper wallet (Flow blockchain wallet) uses Smart Contract model. With various enhancements, Flow offers an account recovery option to ensure that you never lose your assets or access to your account. All Flow dapps can also use these authorization controls.

Upgradable smart contracts:

Flow has an upgradable Smart Contract feature that allows developers to deploy smart contracts in a beta state. This allows them to change the contract until they are satisfied with it. Once they are satisfied, they can release control that cannot then change the smart contract. From the user's point of view, this seems like it defeats the purpose of smart contracts. But, on the contrary, it allows the developer to clarify any point in the contract. Once the contract is final, users will know that they're out of beta and can trust the code. Meanwhile, they can also choose to trust the author.

Human Readable Security:

Flow also has human-readable transactional messages. Most other apps or wallets in the blockchain ecosystem display barely conceivable permissions when authorizing a transaction. Flow messages make sure you clearly understand what you're proxying. Any wallet that uses the Flow blockchain can take advantage of this feature.

Flow has various features that make it a perfect alternative to Ethereum. Guaranteed, it's still in its very early stages and dapps and types of NFTs you can trade are still very few. But it is definitely a platform for you to follow as more dapps and markets are coming soon. And the dapps available are definitely worth checking out; NBA Top Shot has become one of the most popular dapps in existence!

Binance Smart Chain

Transaction congestion and increasing fees are becoming the bane of Ethereum. Until Ethereum solves this, developers continue to find alternatives. Binance Smart Chain is another blockchain solution that offers an alternative to Ethereum.

Binance Smart Chain is a parallel blockchain platform for the Binance Chain network. It specializes in smart contract based applications. Like Flow, it offers fast transaction speeds and low gas fees.

But what makes it different is that it also runs the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This allows it to run Ethereum-based applications.

It runs on the platform's native cryptocurrency: Binance Coin (BNB, or BEP-2 token). It also supports token standards other than native tokens, like ERC-20 tokens (ETH) and BEP2E tokens. This allows cross-chain exchange on the platform easily. One of the best dapps on the platform includes PanCakeSwap. It also has its own NFT marketplace where you can trade using NFT.

Tezos

Tezos is another emerging blockchain for NFTs. Although it currently has only one single cryptocurrency standard, namely the FA2 standard, it is quickly catching up.

Based on a liquid proof-of-stake algorithm, it has a unique character. Users monitor network administration by themselves. Owners of Tez (symbol: XTZ), the native cryptocurrency of the Tezos blockchain, can participate in design and development choices using a process known as baking. By staking some of their Tez (baking), they can vote on new features to roll out on the network.

There are many NFT marketplaces operating on the Tezos blockchain where you can mint, sell, or buy NFTs. The gas fee on Tezos is less than a cent and the transaction speed is still very fast.

Some of the NFT markets to trade include Kalamint (tested like SuperRare), Hicetnunc (open like Rarible), OBJKT, OneOf, and more. OpenSea will also soon include NFT on the Tezos marketplace on their platform.

With the NFT world exploding, too many standards and NFT markets are emerging. We have discussed some of the most popular blockchain platforms with NFT standards above. Understanding the different platforms and the nuances associated with them will help you choose the perfect one for you.

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