Polkadot (DOT) NFTs: An Experimental NFT Playground

Any NFT enthusiasts out there who are seeking out new ways to buy, sell and create non-fungible tokens need look no further than the ambitious multi-chain network known as Polkadot (DOT). 

Ethereum might have dominated the ETF space for the last few years, but many collectors and developers are beginning to notice its flaws like its slow speed and high transaction costs. 

These are issues which Polkadot’s scalability and multi-chain architecture are seeking to resolve, and it’s already proving to be a frontrunner when it comes to expanding what NFTs are truly capable of. 

The truth is, whether you’re someone who simply wants to seek out new ways to expand your NFT collection, or you’re a developer who wants to build your own NFT marketplace with a little extra assistance, it can be well worth looking into Polkadot as it provides many benefits that can help you take the next step forward in your NFT adventure. 

What are Polkadot NFTs?

Simply put, Polkadot NFTs are any kind of non-fungible tokens which can exist within a parachain. Parachains are custom-made blockchains that developers can create and launch onto the Polkadot network.

The beauty of Polkadot parachains is that, since they’re custom made, they can be designed for any kind of purpose or use case. Of course, this inevitably meant that people soon began developing parachains for the purpose of managing, collecting and trading NFTs.

Therefore, when an NFT enthusiast arrives on the Polkadot network, they’re going to have two options: join an already established NFT project (parachain) where they can discover new tokens, or take a stab at creating their own NFT parachain that they think could benefit the network, and the NFT community at large.

Benefits of Using Polkadot to Manage NFTs

The reason there are so many advantages to using Polkadot to manage NFTs is because of the way it’s built. 

Polkadot isn’t an ordinary blockchain like say Ethereum or Bitcoin – it’s a multi-chain network which was designed primarily to allow individual blockchains, which are usually isolated, to communicate with one another.

In order to facilitate this, Polkadot is designed with a few unique systems and built-in features which don’t exist on other blockchains, but which NFT enthusiasts can benefit greatly from. These are some of the biggest advantages:

• Scalability: Polkadot’s size and integrated features, including sharding and parallel processing, allows for fast and cheap transactions on the network. To put this into perspective, the end user on Polkadot will usually only need to pay a fee of between $0.01 and $0.03, meanwhile, it costs an average of $6 on Ethereum.
• Variety: Polkadot allows blockchains to interact with one another, meaning that developers have more tools to create exciting and unique NFTs. For collectors, this can only be a good thing since it provides a healthy variety of tokens to seek out and choose from. 
• Governance: Polkadot uses a democratic governance system where NFT owners will always have full control over their tokens and their profits.
• Security: Polkadot relies on the Relay Hub for its security, and since this “central hub” spans across the entire network, it grants a safe and secure layer of open-source protection for all of its users.
• Substrate: A developer toolbox which makes creating a parachain on the network easy. 

Top Polkadot NFT Projects

The Polkadot platform may be fairly new to the NFT scene compared to its peers, but developers have already been hard at work creating their own projects that other NFT users can utilize for their own needs. Here are the most popular NFT projects currently active on the network. 

1. KodaDot

KodaDot acts as the “Central marketplace” for NFTs on the Polkadot network. KodaDot uses Polkadot’s multi-chain architecture to implement 9 NFT standards from 6 different blockchains, meaning there’s certainly no shortage of exciting tokens that can be bought and exchanged. 

It’s therefore very appealing for collectors, including NFT newcomers since it also features a seamless and easy-going API interface which enhances the user experience by making everything on the screen clear, readable, and easy to understand. 

On the other hand, developers also have a few tools to play around with here, mainly the Mass Minting feature which allows artists to create and upload multiple NFTs at once rather than one by one, saving a lot of time as a result. 

KodaDot is like Polkadot’s NFT town square where creators, collectors and artists can come together and take advantage of Polkadot’s blockchain technology to explore a whole host of crazy and unique NFTs to purchase or trade. 

2. Basilisk

Now that we know what KodaDot is and how it works, it’s only appropriate to next move on to Basilisk – a “pallet” which has been integrated into the KodaDot UI. Think of palette’s as a kind of plug-in or extension which can integrate themselves into other projects, which in this case, is Basilisk connecting to the KodaDot marketplace. 

Basilisk’s main goal is overcoming the issue of liquidity which has plagued NFTs since their inception. Buying and selling NFTs can take a lot longer than regular crypto, but Basilisk is offering tools and features under the hood to allow investors and collectors to trade and buy non-fungible tokens quickly and easily, without needing to break the bank. 

The most important of these is the implementation of royalty free transactions, which allows a percentage of every trade to go back to return back to the original creator, ensuring they receive the profit they deserve. 

A few other extra handy features include being able to set up a buying order for a specific NFT to keep up with new releases in the collection, and the ability to flip NFTs (buying and then selling on a secondary market for profit) quickly and easily. 

3. Astar Network

Astar Network is a Japan-based parachain which is primarily centered around smart contracts and Dapps, but it has also become well known for its NFT compatibility, and more specifically, the variation it offers in terms of collections.

In sticking to its national roots, Astar Network supports many unique NFTs based around Japanese culture, such as in anime manga, but some Japanese game developers have also used it to showcase their new projects, as is the case with Square Enix who are behind the Final Fantasy series. 

What also helps to make Astar unique is that it supports both Web Assembly (WASM) and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) . For NFT collectors, this comes with a few benefits and extra features, such as being able to receive a refund on returning an NFT after mint, or to use their NFTs in a blockchain game where it could take the form of a skin, weapon or avatar.

4. Unique Network

The Unique Network is all about giving NFT developers and collectors the most amount of options and use cases for their tokens as possible. Though it does provide all of the basic NFT interactions such as mining and transferring tokens, it also comes with a plethora of deeper features which can make an NFT more attractive on the market. 

For example, Unique Network allows its users to bundle in fungible tokens (cryptocurrency) with their non-fungible (NFTs) as one single package, and it also lets owners split their NFT into fungible tokens so that they can only have partial ownership, which is usually only restricted to the most expensive NFTs. 

Not only does this grant some flexibility to developers, but it also offers numerous new ways for collectors to interact with NFTs too. 

Think about it this way; if you like the look of an NFT but don’t want to go all in with buying it, then the Unique Network can allow you to only pay for partial ownership which is cheaper, but still gives you some level of authority over the token. 

So at its core, Unique Network is focused on interactivity, and more specifically, giving both collectors and developers deeper and more complex ways to buy and sell their non-fungible tokens. 

5. RMRK 

Finally we have RMRK, a project which often describes itself as a “Lego set” where developers can make use of plenty of building blocks to create their own interactive and dynamic NFTs. 

The main aim here is allowing artists to edge their NFTs as close to being NFT 2.0s as possible. NFTO 2.0 is simply a fancy term for NFTs which are able to perform more actions, and be customized in more ways, then their 1.0 counterparts, and it’s these extra abilities that RMRK is ushering into the Polkadot ecosystem.

Here are three examples of ways that RMRK can allow its users to interact with and develop their NFTs:

• Multi-Resource NFTs: Instead of having just a single image, multi-resource NFTs can contain multiple pictures, videos, or other types of media to make them stand out more. There’s even the option for reactive NFTs which can change their appearance depending on whether it’s day or night. 
• NFTS with Emojis: On-chain emojis can make an NFT more visually interesting, but they also are commonly used for price discovery, game mechanics, and any other creative ideas that the developer can come up with. 
• Nested NFTs: This allows an NFT to own another NFT, but they can also be embedded with other assets as part of one basket. They can be traded as normal, but their overall value will be the sum of all the digital assets at once. 

RMRK is one of the leading Web3 platforms when it comes to incorporating NFT 2.0, and though it’s quite advanced in its functionality and interface, it’s a great option for anyone wanting more options when it comes to creating and customizing a new collection. 

On the Flipside

• Polkadot is a newcomer to the NFT space in comparison to its main competitors, and as a result, it doesn’t have many tools or resources to ease users into the experience. The expansive architecture and capabilities of Polkadot are best explored by those who are coming into it with at least a basic knowledge of NFTs beforehand.
• Additionally, Polkadot is facing fierce competition from other multi-chain NFT platforms like Avalanche for example, which has become popular for its speed and scalability. 

Why This Matters

Polkadot is breaking down boundaries in the NFT marketplace, allowing collectors and artists to seek out tokens from a multitude of blockchains, all under one network. On top of this, it also boasts quick transaction speeds and a tight security system which helps to keep your collections safe and sound. 

Developers also have a lot to get stuck into here though, specially thanks to Polkadot’s substrate toolbox, and the amount of freedom they have to construct their own project or token thanks to the flexibility of the multi-chain polkadot ecosystem. 

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