Top 10 Biggest Non-Fungible Token Platforms
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are similar to ERC-20 tokens but come with several important distinctions which make them unique and useful. Non-fungible tokens are often used in online gaming and collectibles, among other things. The majority of games on the market today utilize either NFTs or ERC-20 tokens as virtual assets. NFTs can be further broken down into two categories — crypto kitties and non-crypto kitties.
1) Enjin
Enjin provides an easy way to create a digital game asset, including custom attributes like unique stats and ownership information. These assets can be purchased on their marketplace and used across multiple games, creating an easy experience for both developers and users. Enjin supports NFTs through smart contracts as well as open source Unity/Unreal plugins (which also support ERC-721). A highly popular solution for gaming, Enjin is currently being used by over 1.8 million users. Their solution is open source, meaning other development platforms can use it to develop solutions in their specific environment as well as integrate into their own products/services.
2) WAX
WAX is a decentralized platform that enables anyone to operate a fully functioning virtual marketplace with zero investment in security, infrastructure, or payment processing. Developed by the founders of OPSkins, WAX is designed to serve video game publishers, e-sports organizers, communities, and other users who want to run their own virtual marketplace. WAX’s token utility—the WAX Platform Token—is used by virtual marketplaces to create new assets for their users. This allows individuals to represent digital items from games like CryptoKitties and for more complex assets like in-game items from popular online battle arena games such as League of Legends and DOTA 2. The token will also be used for cross-marketplace transactions so that virtual item holders can trade with one another.
3) Rarebits
Rarebits lets you buy and sell digital goods in your browser. It’s an open platform for anyone to create and list nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which are cryptographically unique. The most common example of an NFT is a CryptoKitty, but rarebits work with any ERC721 token—and all transactions are paid in cryptocurrency. Users can browse through Rarebits’ marketplace of digital goods to purchase collectibles like CryptoKitties and Etheremon monsters.
4) Storj
What is Storj? Storj is a decentralized, open-source cloud storage platform where anyone can sell their extra hard drive space and data transfer bandwidth. The concept of Storj was first developed in 2013 by Shawn Wilkinson and Jack Mallers (the now CTO of Storj Labs). They successfully raised nearly $3 million USD via an initial coin offering (ICO) in May 2014. Initially, users were able to store files on peer-to-peer networks via Bitcoin and use a cryptocurrency called Storjcoin X for payment but changed over to Ethereum’s blockchain due to high transaction fees associated with Bitcoin. With plans to switch back to using Bitcoin sometime in 2018.
5) Decentraland
One of largest, if not THE largest, NFT platforms. It has dozens of projects that have already launched or will be launching on its network soon (read: multiple years). The VeChainThor Blockchain powers products in more than 25 industries and is based out of Singapore. VechainThor blockchain was one of the first platforms to launch a dual token system, where one token is used for governance purposes and another is used for transactions/interactions. The VeChain foundation raised over $300M in their ICO. One important note about Vechain and NFT’s – Vechain focused heavily on supply chain management for luxury brands during their ICO which explains why there are many high priced items associated with VeChain including expensive cars by BMW and Louis Vuitton handbags!
6) Egretia
Egretia is a multi-platform solution for gamers, HTML5 developers and content publishers that is based on blockchain technology. It helps developers to create DApps or other gaming solutions by providing tools and services for users. Egretia provide tools for user’s NFT based collection and exchange. The platform also helps users monetize their personal data in a trusted environment. Egretia provides players with opportunities to earn rewards by sharing their game data, which will then be used to reduce costs for all HTML5 games in circulation on Egretia platform, therefore realizing a win-win situation between developers, gamers and content distributors as well as fully protecting developers’ copyright through blockchain implementation technology.
7) Consensys
ConsenSys develops tools and platforms for building decentralized applications (dApps), including Ethereum and MetaMask. Ethereum has been hailed as an incredible invention that could profoundly change how we organize society, but even with its potential, it is a nascent technology. As such, it needs to be built upon and iterated upon constantly to build out its functionality. The ConsenSys team acts as a foundation upon which these efforts can take place.
8) U Network
Although VeChain currently offers its mainnet as a service to enterprise companies, it’s also working to launch its own public blockchain. Launched in 2015, VeChain has gained several big-name partnerships and is one of the top 25 crypto projects by market cap. The protocol offers robust smart contract capabilities and enterprise features such as hardware wallets for NFC chips. It also supports NFTs through its Trusted Proof of Process (TPoP) consensus mechanism. The underlying technology behind VeChainThor is already in use by many industries, but businesses will be able to build on top of it once VET migrates from Ethereum to its native blockchain in late 2019 or early 2020.
9) VeChainThor Blockchain
VeChain is one of the largest blockchain platforms in existence and it was built with a purpose. It’s not just another Ethereum clone or even one that focuses on financial applications. Instead, VeChainThor Blockchain aims to offer enterprise solutions that promise to maximize blockchain technology’s benefits to their users. In particular, businesses can use it to create applications and smart contracts that use KYC (Know Your Customer) processes and other regulatory requirements as part of their core architecture. What does that mean? It means that VeChain wants to become what Ethereum is for financial services—except for every industry! What Does This Mean For Users? While enterprises are almost certainly going to be VeChain’s biggest customers, end users aren’t left out in any way.
10) OpenSea
Since late 2017, OpenSea has been one of (if not) the most popular platform for trading NFTs on Ethereum. It allows users to trade across a multitude of categories including CryptoKitties, Rare Pepe cards, and a ton more. The platform is straightforward and easy to use — with free 0x relayer and ERC721 token support. The only real downside is that OpenSea charges 3% for every buy or sell order, making it slightly less attractive than competing platforms such as Rarebits or WAX. But if you’re just getting started or don’t have too many assets to trade yet, OpenSea is an ideal place to kick off your trading career.