ERC-721 or Ethereum Request for Comments 721 is a data standard for creating non-fungible tokens. That means each token is unique and cannot be divided or directly exchanged for another ERC-721 token.
The ERC-721 was proposed by William Entriken, Dieter Shirley, Jacob Evans, and Nastassia Sachs in January 2018 to help in tracking and transferring non-fungible tokens within smart contracts.
The token standard became very famous because of a blockchain game called ‘CryptoKitties‘ developed by Canadian studio, Dapper Labs. In this game, you can collect virtual cats and even breed them.
What are ERC-721 tokens?
The ERC-721 is the token standard used for creating NFTs. It’s unique and has a different value compared to another token from the same smart contract due to its rarity and visuals
The token can be used on platforms like Uniswap, Rarible, and AtomicMarket, etc. that offer lottery, access keys, tickets, collectible items, numbered seats for concerts and sports matches. Its uniqueness paves the way for many amazing use-cases and possibilities.
There are some other famous tokens like ERC-20 and ERC-1155 but they are different from ERC-721. Here’s how:
- ERC-20 vs ERC-721 👉🏼 they’re the total opposite of each other. ERC-20 is used to create similar tokens while ERC- 721 is used to create entirely different tokens.
- ERC-1155 vs ERC-721 👉🏼 the former token i.e. ERC-1155 is very versatile as it enables the efficient transfer of fungible and non-fungible tokens in a single transaction. ERC-721 token standard, however, works for non-fungible tokens only.
NFTs have 50 different use cases that seem to be lumped into one. I think we expect the majority of the [crypto] projects to make use of NFTs.
Raj Gokal, the co-founder of Solana on the ERC-721’s NFT concepts
ERC-721 functions
The ERC-721 token has several functions that enable it to be owned, traded and managed. These functions are able to:
- Return the number of NFTs in the owner’s account
- Return the owner of the NFT specified by tokenId
- Approve another address to transfer the given token ID
- Get the approved address for a token ID
- Set or unset the approval of a given operator
- Tell whether an operator is approved by a given owner
- Transfer the ownership of a given token ID to another address
- Safely transfer the ownership of a given token ID to another address
ERC-721 token has created waves in the blockchain space and people love its NFT use-case. The token standard has also helped catapult the NFT market to billions of dollars in worth.
👋🏼 Hey! While you’re here, check this out too.
We’ve got some great web3 learning projects for no extra charge. Give them a go:
✨ Make your own Solana token in just 10 mins
✨ Build your own web3 Twitter dApp with Solidity