Crypto Collectibles - What Are They And What They Can Used For?

Evolution of crypto collectibles

The internet gave us digital abundance, and then blockchain gave us digital scarcity. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin, while other cryptocurrencies require miners to provide computing power in order to support them. But while Bitcoin is scarce, it is still fungible: one Bitcoin is the same as another. Thus people do not collect Bitcoin, they buy it as a store of value or currency. But the concept of scarcity is taken a step further with NFTs. Here it is possible to own an item that is one of a kind. This is done by “minting” a digital file, which stores it on the blockchain and thus verifies its owner and its rarity. 

In this way crypto enthusiasts began to collect these items, originally mostly various form of digital art. But this has evolved also to audio and video files, that are now also stored on the blockchain as crypto collectibles. 

The growth of NFTs and crypto collectibles

The first ever crypto collectible was created in 2014, but they first gained the attention of the wider audience with the Cryptopunks and CryptoKitties NFT collections, where thousands of crypto collectibles are all part of one collection. The different digital art collectibles share certain attributes and art style, while also forming a community in which the owners engage. Since then the crypto collectible market has continued to grow, reaching an impressive sales volume of 17.7 billion dollars in 2021.

Crypto collectibles as currency

Crypto collectibles are not a currency, due to their nature as collectibles. Each item’s worth is different based on a variety of factors, like non-digital rare items that are often evaluated by specialists. This is another reason they are classified as collectibles rather than currency. 

But Crypto collectibles can certainly be purchased as a store of value or investment. Prices of some of these NFTs can grow substantially over time, and therefore many people buy them with the goal of selling down the road for profit. But due to the fact that each crypto collectible is unique, finding a buyer is not always as fast nor as simple as simply exchanging a cryptocurrency, which is something investors should keep in mind. 

Where to buy crypto collectibles?

Currently the easiest way to buy crypto collectibles is at NFT marketplaces. These are websites designed for buying and selling NFTs. Certhis envisions a future in which crypto collectibles will become an essential part of many businesses, who will want to sell those NFTs from their website alongside other items. Therefore Certhis.io enables NFT creators to deploy, mint and display their Crypto collectibles from their own website.

Thus in the future it should be more and more common to buy crypto collectibles from a large variety of websites and not just at NFT marketplaces.

Conclusion

It makes sense that in 2022, when much of people's activity takes place in the digital world, that unique digital items will be part of the landscape. Crypto collectibles have many potential uses beyond just an item to collect and store away. Proof of authenticity, community membership and digital contracts are just a few of many proposed future uses. Therefore the term NFT, meaning non-fungible token, has become more popular, due to the multi-us enature of crypto collectibles. 

Q&A

What are collectibles in NFT?

Non-fungible tokens are unique digital items. Therefore they can potentially hold value as rare and valuable collectibles that are worth owning. Many NFTs are sold as part of a collection with thousands of items, a testament to the “collectible” nature of these digital assets. 

What are collectibles in coin wallets?

Digital wallets store cryptocurrencies, but some of them can also hold NFTs. Therefore anyone who owns a crypto collectible must store this asset in a digital wallet.