The world of NFTs created ripples everywhere and it was the realm of digital art where this breakthrough in technology really made waves. While the initial hype around NFTs has somewhat waned, the potential tokenization holds to revolutionize so many areas of our lives, is immense and we’ve only really seen the top of the iceberg when it comes to NFTs. The specific area that we’re excited about at Qliktag, is its potential when it comes to physical collectibles. Physical collectibles have always been a considerable market and exciting space, whether it’s collectible toy figures from movies, music records, coins, cards, sneakers or sports memorabilia. However, the digital age has brought new opportunities for both creators and collectors, including the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are unique digital assets that are verified on the blockchain, ensuring their authenticity and ownership. As NFTs created a boom in the digital art domain, creators of physical collectibles actively looked into how NFTs could be implemented with their physical items and offer the same kind of benefits. However, there was a missing piece of the technology puzzle when it came to creating physical NFTs or pairing them with physical products and collectibles. That missing piece was:
“How do you ensure the link between the digital NFT which exists on the blockchain and the physical collectible is an unbreakable link?” How do you ensure a one to one link which is unclonable, completely secure, verifiable and requires custody of the physical collectible so they are bonded as one even though they exist in different realms?
With the introduction of a specific type of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, the world of physical collectibles is about to be revolutionized. That missing link has now been resolved with a special secure NFC chip in printed electronic tags that can be applied to the physical collectible and solve exactly that!
Let’s explore the potential of NFTs with NFC technology and how they can change the way we collect, authenticate and showcase physical objects.
Benefits of NFTs with NFC
NFT with NFC technology offer several benefits for collectors, including:
- Authenticity: The combination of NFTs with NFC technology can ensure the authenticity of physical collectibles. An NFT with NFC can confirm the provenance of an item and make it easier to detect fraud. In fact, the NXP NTAG 424 DNA Secure NFC tag has a chip that generates a new dynamic key / fingerprint which alters the URL link every time it is tapped. Much like a banking FOB device that generates a one time passcode each time it is activated. This makes it unclonable and impossible to counterfeit.
- Security: NFTs with NFC technology can have ownership and transactional information securely stored on a blockchain, making them virtually impossible to counterfeit.
- Accessibility: With NFTs, collectors can have access to a digital record of their physical collectibles, including ownership history and provenance.
- Ease of trade: With NFTs, collectors can trade their physical collectibles in a digital marketplace, without the need for physical exchange.
- Locked content & functionality: With this technology it is possible to lock certain content and features, verify authenticity and ownership of the NFT by connecting to a digital wallet and confirming ownership through the token. Based on the verification of ownership and physical custody, certain exclusive content or features related to the collectible can be unlocked which opens up a world of possibilities.
Use Cases for NFTs with NFC
NFTs with NFC technology have several potential use cases, including:
- Collectibles: NFTs with NFC can be used to create unique and valuable collectibles, such as rare coins, stamps, or sports memorabilia. Collectors can verify the authenticity and ownership of these items through the NFT with NFC.
- Art: NFTs with NFC can be used to create and authenticate physical art, making it easier for artists to monetize their work and for collectors to purchase and verify their ownership.
- Luxury Goods: NFTs with NFC can be used to verify the authenticity of luxury goods, such as designer handbags or watches. This can make it easier for buyers to verify that they are purchasing genuine products.
- Gaming: NFTs with NFC can be used in gaming to create unique in-game items or characters that players can own and trade. The NFC can authenticate ownership and transfer of these items.
How NFTs with NFC Work
NFTs with NFC work by combining the benefits of both technologies and effectively creating a hard one to one link between the token on the blockchain and the physical collectible. An NFT is created to represent the physical item, and the NFC technology is used to authenticate the ownership and provenance of the item as well as the paired NFT. The NFT is stored on a blockchain, providing a secure and tamper-proof record of ownership, while other data such as attributes, documentation, images, video content including its unique identifier and other attributes that may require more frequent updates can be maintained off-chain.
The use of NFT with NFC in the physical collectibles market has the potential to revolutionize the collectibles space and create more valuable experiences for collectors the world over.
FAQs
Q: How do NFTs with NFC differ from traditional collectibles?
A: NFTs with NFC provide a secure and tamper-proof record of ownership, making it easier to authenticate and trade physical collectibles. They also provide digital access to ownership history and provenance.
Q: How can NFTs with NFC benefit collectors?
A: NFTs with NFC can ensure the authenticity and provenance of physical collectibles, making it easier to verify ownership and detect fraud. They also provide access to a digital record of ownership history and provenance. It also makes transfer of ownership, verification of delivery and physical custody easier.
Q: Can I pair any NFC tag with an NFC to achieve this?
A: No. Most common NFC tags simply encode a URL link to the item and the NFT on the blockchain. This makes it simple to clone or counterfeit simply by copying the URL and encoding it into other NFC tags. However, using secure NFC technology or Type4 NFC tags with SUN Messaging ensures the NFC tags generate a new key on every tap which can not be replicated in any way and this is what makes the link between the physical collectible and NFT unbreakable. NXP’s NTAG 424 DNA series of tags and HID Globals Trusted NFC series of tags are examples of such tags.
