Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have emerged as a groundbreaking solution in the digital ecosystem, addressing the pressing need for a reliable method of proving ownership, authenticity, and scarcity of digital assets.
NFT usefulness is a vital factor driving their rapid adoption across various industries, such as art, gaming, real estate, and intellectual property management.
That’s why considering real-world applications for current and new projects will help creators and collectors to embrace new opportunities with value and innovation.
This article emphasizes how NFTs empower creators to maintain control over their work, generate sustainable income, and engage with their audience more meaningfully.
This article is a segment of a more extensive piece about NFT basics.
What Are Utility NFTs?
Utility NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are specific crypto tokens used outside the blockchain technology environment.
This digital asset provides exclusive rewards, privileges, and rights when purchased by token holders. A utility NFT is also sold as an NFT collection so that you can get them in marketplaces like OpenSea.
How do Utility NFTs Work?
A utility NFT project works like a traditional NFT regarding creation, attributes, and storage on the blockchain.
They follow the same minting and listing process as regular NFTs. As most utility NFT projects use the ETH blockchain due to speed, trustability, and versatility, NFT collectors can get their own assets via ETH. Yet, you can also find others in the BNB chain.
Now, the difference comes with the practical applications they have in the real world.
Let’s make an example:
Let’s say a famous singer is starting a tour. He decides to sell tickets in digital format and, in addition, turn 1000 of them into unique digital assets.
Those who purchase the NFTs can attend his concerts and meet him, receive free tickets for the following events, and participate in exclusive drops the artist does. This is what utility tokens are meant for, to provide value for NFT holders.
Digital collectibles with utility are backed up by a company, person, or project with value and benefits for buyers.
How Can NFT Owners And Creators Benefit From Utility?
The utility comes when a creator adds something the collector finds useful. This would become a sort of incentive system that includes recognition, profits, and projection.
Let’s break down what utility NFTs offer for both sides:
| Collectors | Creators |
| Access NFTs with exclusive benefits that are valuable for collectors. | Get their art recognized and purchased. |
| Get their assets appreciated and ready for reselling. | Boost the chances of selling NFTs when they add utility. |
| Being part of an exclusive community. | Fund further projects. |
| Use NFTs in the real world. | Create a loyal community. |
| Receive recognition from other members. | Find passive income opportunities. |
As you can see, an NFT holder will get as many benefits as creators regarding these exclusive NFTs.
It’s all a matter of giving something significant to the community.
Giving Utility to Traditional NFTs
Giving utility to an NFT is not difficult. It’s all a matter of thinking about something a community wants and could see as valuable. Of course, it will have to be relevant to your NFT.
For example, Kings of Leon had an album released back in 2021. They decided also to release a utility NFT that fans would love to obtain and give them the following benefits:
- A digital art with a complete album download.
- Redeemable physical limited edition vinyl copy.
- Top seats at the Kings of Leon show.
The entire community went crazy and purchased almost all their NFTs.
Why?
Because they provided something all wanted with fair market value and scarcity. This way, the lucky ones would get unlimited access – and exclusive access – to events and other physical products.
So, to give utility to traditional NFTs, you must include that attribute in the smart contracts that will execute when purchased.
Types of Utility NFTs
There are currently five types of utility you can give to NFTs. Maybe you want to mint something in the gaming industry or work on a project to start earning passive income.
Let’s see what you could do:
Governance Tokens
Governance utility in NFTs works similarly to the Decentralized Autonomous Organization concept, allowing users to participate in the project’s decision-making process. Unlike traditional NFTs, those that give governance tokens give governing powers to all members who purchase them.
This means that creators hand over a portion of their power and aim it in a collaborative community approach through a token-based mechanism.
Creators may give holders all or partial authority over their projects. It all depends on the model and projections.
Events
Events were one of the first industries that got involved in utility NFTs.
They have a proven successful track record where they have incentivized companies and artists to develop their work utility asset-class NFT for a practical application.
These assets give access to exclusive and privileged benefits related to the artists’ products that engage the community.
And now – thanks to the Metaverse – events can be both online and offline. So, you could meet up with your artist in a virtual realm fully developed for loyal customers who bought the NFT.
Now, the events can be presented for different reasons, such as:
- Community calls.
- Networking meetings.
- Webinars.
- Twitter Spaces.
The music industry has also gotten involved in this technology and now prepares exclusive events in virtual worlds.
PPV Content
NFTs allow you to create even more exclusive content focused on your customer’s demands.
This applies to one of the basic NFT features – they “represent ownership” – because it ensures buyers will keep receiving valuable content and digital artwork they find interesting.
Hence, the NFT price will rise as the community grows and the creator commits to delivering more fine art.
The best example here is the Global Titans NFT, which is an online MMA event that you can access to only with NFT tickets.
Discounts & Promotions
Discounts and promotions are a double-edged sword in the blockchain industry.
Lowering your prices could be an excellent strategy to keep the community hooked, but after starting with this tactic, you’ll always have to rely on discounts.
This mechanic works the same on NFTs as on the traditional market. This means you lower prices to exclusive merch for your community.
Gaming
NFTs as in-game assets are another way to give utility.
They work as an incentive, profitable system that helps creators and holders maintain value on their assets.
Even though they aren’t real-world experiences, they still provide real-world use cases. Some developers even mint NFTs backed up with a physical item to increase value.
BombCrypto is a good example of gaming NFTs. Here you needed to purchase NFTs and use them to explode bombs across the maps to earn Bcoins.
Virtual Rewards
NFTs have a common usage as a loyalty reward. Projects can mint tokens and give them to members as a form of gratitude. This helps companies connect and engage with their community.
A holder could use their tokens and burn them to exchange them for discounts, online auctions, and other offers.
For example, Starbucks released a project called Odyssey where they rewarded people with NFTs after testing their coffee knowledge. Users could also get discounts, purchase other NFTs and access virtual workshops.
Membership Cards
Companies can create tokens that work as membership cards that help to identify people or products.
They may be used for:
- Virtual real estate
- Health insurance cards
- Luxury items identification
Examples of Utility NFTs
After learning how you can give a non-fungible token utility and all its appliances, we’ve gathered successful examples of utility NFTs and their creators here.
Tamadoge
Tamadoge is an interesting utility NFT with in-game applications. Developers have combined the well-known Dogecoin meme dog with the old-school Tamagochi, hence creating a unique NFT with gaming usage.
Tamadoge.io allows you to enter the website, play with virtual pets, get your NFTs, breed them, and then later use them in those games to make profits. You can also battle with other players and sell your pet after appreciation.
Developers aim to become the greatest meme coin and apply the Play-to-earn mentality throughout the entire ecosystem.
All transactions are made in TAMA, the native token,
Bored Ape Yacht Club
BAYC has turned out to be a great utility NFT. These assets allow holders to join exclusive events like the Apefest. Collectors show their assets in multiple activities like music, games, and auctions.
Members will also have other benefits like discounts and a whitelist for new minting opportunities.
Doodles
Doodles is an NFT that gives holders voting rights for future releases and other exclusive events. The community has a treasury called Doodlebank that stores funds that will be used for expansion.
This project has about 10,000 collectibles created by Burnt Toast, including multiple characters with traits and unique attributes.
Asset owners may not have real-world items, but they can indeed be used as unique tokens that provide value to all holders.
Crypto Baristas
Crypto Baristas provides the complete caffeine experience to all holders. These NFTs not only represent a loyalty card, but they also offer benefits in current and future cafe locations.
The community also gets coffee shipments, tickets, and trips to the New York Coffee Fest.
VeeFriends
VeeFriends is the NFT project prepared exclusively by the popular entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. This personality has applied value to the community members by giving them access passes to VeeCon conferences.
All holders can access virtual events and mentoring sessions with Gary while also interacting with other like-minded people.
Each NFT is attached to a ticket number that mods use to know if you attend the meeting.
GainForest
The GainForest project is a decentralized and non-profit fund that tries to share the importance of forest conservation through AI and transparent monitoring.
Users will get NFTress for donating real money. These tokens give an actual representation of the rainforests they are helping to protect. Holders can also see the current conservation status and how it’s developing.
World of Freight
World of Freight is a gaming utility NFT project focusing on 10,000 unique vehicle NFTs. Members can use their assets to race and make WOF tokens that can later be used for customization.
Axie Infinity
This is one of the classic gaming NFTs. People purchase, breed, and exchange creatures and then use them to battle against bots or players.
Holders will gain tokens like AXS or SLP that they can use to craft items or make profits.
Currently, the community is creating external games that connect with the Ronin network to increase usability. They are expected to build a common virtual land later used for further expansion and gaming activities.
This NFT project was exploited in 2020 when the internet discovered that a small PH community was making a living out of this game.
Adding Utility to NFTs is the Future
The world of Non-Fungible Tokens has opened up a new frontier in the digital realm, offering unparalleled opportunities for creators, collectors, and businesses to harness the power of unique digital assets.
The importance of NFT utility lies in its ability to revolutionize the way to perceive value, ownership, and authenticity in the digital age.
As NFTs continue gaining traction and evolving, their multifaceted applications across various industries are expected to grow, driving further innovation and transforming how we interact with digital content.
It’s essential to stay informed and engaged with this dynamic space to the new possibilities that NFTs offer—all this to shape a more inclusive, secure, and sustainable digital future for businesses and communities.
