Mapping out the non-fungible token ecosystem

The concept of a non-fungible token (NFT) has been ingrained into the minds of developers, investors, and users in the Ethereum community ever since the world discovered the moderately popular CryptoKitties game.¹ Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies and tokens, which typically aim to be fungible, NFTs are specifically created to be unique and thus not interchangeable.

While the concept of a non-fungible crypto token is not new, since 2014, users could leverage CounterParty to create NFTs on Bitcoin’s blockchain, Ethereum’s ERC-721 token standard and the rise of CryptoKitties brought NFTs into the limelight. After Dieter Shirley of AxiomZen, proposed the ERC-721 non-fungible token standard, we saw an eruption of games, collectibles, and infrastructure built around the NFT ecosystem.