Cryptocurrencies, tokens, DeFi, NFT or smart contracts are some of the terms that to many will sound like Chinese, but which have undoubtedly come to stay . Understanding them as soon as possible is almost an obligation to be informed about the news. Today we will tell you what NFTs are for and how you can get a unique image for your Twitter account or any profile on social networks.
A quick refresher on the NFT concept
NFT is the acronym for “non-fungible token”, which translates as fungible token. The term basically comes to mean that it is not possible to replace one with an identical one.
Let’s go with a quick example to understand this matter at a stroke. If you lend me money (1 bitcoin or a simple 50 euro bill), my debt with you will be paid when I return that amount. In this case, the BTC or the 50 euro bill. But … You will not necessarily receive back the same bitcoin or the same original bill. Any of the millions that exist helps us to close the deal. This pillar is the vital difference between any token and an NFT token . The NFT is unique by nature , and there is no other like it that can replace it.
What can be an NFT?
An image, a video, a song or even a video game. Any digital asset , no matter how complex, is “tokenizable.”
For digital artists , the NFT has become a fundamental tool for the day to day. A kind of disruptive technology that has come to protect their works and make their sale easier. NFTs can leave behind that time of DeviantArt, where anyone could steal content from an artist and impersonate the author. Therefore, the NFT not only makes it easier for the artist to sell the work, but also certifies its authorship via blockchain at the same time that the blockchain acts as a notary, showing the current owner of the artistic piece or digital asset.
Why use an NFT as an image on Twitter?
Whether you have a personal profile or if you are developing a brand, it is essential to be original . In the same way that before you could hire a designer to create the logo of your company or personal brand, with NFTs, the market takes a turn allowing you to choose a unique and exclusive image for your project.
You probably know small companies that have the exact same logo from having bought the image from a Shutterstock or Freepik-style stock bank. These platforms sell licenses for the images that their collaborators upload. As long as buyers comply with the clauses, there is no problem if two companies use the same image as a logo. But it is not very elegant in terms of branding . The NFTs in this case are a solution to consider in these cases.
Where to buy NFT images?
Now that you know what it is for and what an NFT can contribute to your project, the most important part remains, which is to know on which platforms we can acquire one.
OpenSea
It is the Amazon of the NFTs. It is currently the largest marketplace in the world. Access is free and they provide many facilities for both creators and sellers. Regarding the means of payment, they accept more than 150 tokens .
Rare
It is another great platform, although not as huge as OpenSea. The store is located within the Ethereum blockchain and we will have to use its own token (RARI) if we want to buy any type of art. In addition, you should know that there are large companies in the audiovisual sector supporting this project, where neither more nor less than Adobe stands out .
Foundation.app
It was born this same 2021 and it is a simple , light and very visual marketplace . It is bought and sold using Ethereum. The great reception that the artists have made to this store is also worth mentioning.
Mintable
It is another website that aspires to remove the throne from OpenSea. They greatly facilitate the “minting” process (that is, the creation of the non-fungible token) and their means of payment is exclusively Ethereum so far.
SuperRare
This last store that we will talk about today is similar to Rarible , but stands out for having a very interesting content curation mechanism. Ethereum is used for exchanges, although they have plans to launch their own token. Everything found in SuperRare can also be purchased through OpenSea.
How to put your NFT as a profile picture on your Twitter account
Once you have purchased your NFT, the blockchain will be in charge of verifying that only you are the owner of the image you have acquired. You will only have to download the image and upload it to your Twitter profile as a featured image or profile image .
But the thing does not stop there . If you know Twitter well, you will know that Jack Dorsey (@jack), the CEO of this social network, is very involved in the world of cryptocurrencies. In fact, this successful entrepreneur not only dedicates time to Twitter, but is also the founder of Square , which is a financial platform for digital payments.
With those two big projects on the table, it’s no wonder Dorsey is interested in interconnecting the two businesses . And it is already known that Twitter is working to natively support the NFTs that we buy in markets like OpenSea.
Twitter and native NFT support
In a tweet published a few weeks ago by Justin Taylor , Head of Product Marketing at Twitter, a small recording of how Twitter plans to implement the NFT in its social network was shown.
Here’s a sneak peek👀 on what we’re working on for NFT profile verification.
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/Z8c6tH3BBy
– Justin Taylor (@TheSmarmyBum) September 29, 2021
The function has not yet reached the stable version of the twitter app for smartphones, but it appears to be a really simple process. For this we will have to click on our profile image, and instead of selecting the gallery, we will mark “Select NFT”. Next, a drop-down will open to connect a compatible token portfolio. In the capture of the beta version we can see that Coinbase, Trust, Argent, Metamask, Gnosis Safe, Crypto.com, Pillar, ImToken and the Opera browser are supported.
Does it have any use beyond posturing?
Every time someone buys an NFT and announces it on Twitter, the typical hater always appears who downloads the image and posts it again to demonstrate their rejection of this technology.
However, Twitter has thought about this detail very well. In the preview that Taylor published, it is clear that any profile that has an image originating from an NFT will appear with an Ethereum symbol next to it. This little icon is the equivalent of the check that verified accounts have on Twitter, but specifically designed for the world of non-fungible tokens.
Therefore, uploading an NFT as a profile photo to our Twitter account will give us two fundamental advantages. The first is that it will be very easy to catch whoever tries to steal the image from us , since it will be quickly signaled by not having the verification. On the other hand, it can be used to verify our profile . Although we do not have the blue tick that Twitter usually gives. If only we are the owners of the image in question and Twitter publicly certifies it, then it is absolutely impossible for someone other than us to be behind said Twitter account.