What are PFP NFTs? | GOBankingRates
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The cryptocurrency and blockchain industry is relatively new, but it is overwhelmingly popular. Hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency trade every day. As cryptocurrency became more popular, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, began to hit the scene.
Read: 5 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Hit $50,000
NFTs are digital assets that can be art, music, or a wide variety of other digital files. The important part of NFTs is that users can verify ownership of them based on blockchain records. In fact, it is this verifiable ownership that enables venues to use NFTs as digital ticketing systems.
However, NFTs are used in a different way – as profile pictures or PFPs.
What are PFP NFTs?
A PFP NFT is any NFT the owner of the digital files uses as their profile picture, usually on social media. This means that instead of the social media user using a picture of themselves for their profile, they use an NFT they own as the main profile picture.
PFP NFTs offer social media users a few different benefits:
- Anonymity. Some social media users prefer to use these media platforms anonymously. PFP NFTs give these users a way to remain completely anonymous since even their profile pictures are not a picture of them.
- Project support. There are countless NFT projects out there, but some of them support compelling causes. For example, some NFT projects support breast cancer awareness. People who own these types of NFTs can show their support for their cause by using their digital collectibles as profile pictures.
Where did PFP NFTs come from?
PFP NFTs date back to 2017, when a popular NFT project, CryptoPunks, was first launched. Larva Labs developed CryptoPunks, which features pixilated cartoon images of headshots called Punks.
Each punk has a unique mix of background color, skin tone, hairstyle, hair color and several other characteristics, making each part of the collection unique.
It wasn’t until around 2020 that PFP NFTs really became popular when CryptoPunks started to gain serious traction. Today, CryptoPunks are some of the most expensive NFTs on the market with a floor price of over $85,000 worth of ETH.
Twitter authenticates PFP NFT ownership
Since so many people started using NFTs as PFPs, Twitter recently added a new feature to bring the security of the blockchain into practice. In early 2022, Twitter launched PFP NFT verification.
An important aspect of NFTs is that people can validate their ownership on the blockchain, which as mentioned above gave rise to NFT-based ticketing systems. Twitter decided to leverage this ownership verification to accommodate NFT owners who use their digital collectibles as profile pictures on the platform.
Users who own NFTs and plan to use them as Twitter profile pictures can link their Ethereum wallets to their Twitter accounts. When users connect their wallet, Twitter verifies that the profile pictures they use are NFTs they own in their wallet.
When Twitter confirms ownership of the NFT, their PFP limit changes. Traditionally, users’ profile pictures are in the center of a circular border, but when they confirm ownership of PFP NFT, the border becomes a hexagon.
Do you need a PFP NFT?
Users do not need to have a PFP NFT to benefit from social media applications. Some social networks have actually worked hard to ban anonymous accounts in an effort to curb online bullying and abuse.
Nevertheless, those who are part of an NFT project they are passionate about or who just want to show off their favorite part of their NFT collection can use non-fungible tokens like PFP on most social networks.
Final Take
PFP NFTs have grown significantly in popularity since they first started appearing on CryptoPunk enthusiasts’ social media accounts. Today, people use NFTs from a wide range of projects as profile pictures. Those who want to show off their NFTs, whether for a cause or just to show off their favorite pieces of their collections, should consider adding their NFTs to their social profiles.
FAQ
NFTs are relatively new. The first wasn’t minted until May 2014, and it wasn’t until around 2020 that they started to increase in popularity. New concepts are often met with questions, and PFP NFT is no different. Here are the answers to some of the most common questions about these tokens:
- How do I get a PFP NFT?
- Social media users can use any NFT they want as their profile picture. The most important part is ownership. Before users can use a PFP NFT, they must select one and purchase it. The best way to do this is through an NFT marketplace like OpenSea.
- How do I use a PFP NFT?
- Using a PFP NFT is a simple process. Here are the steps:
- -Buy NFT on an NFT marketplace like OpenSea.
- -Download NFT’s image file.
- -Upload the NFT image file to a social media profile as if it were a standard profile picture.
- Using a PFP NFT is a simple process. Here are the steps:
- Can I use an NFT as a PFP without buying it?
- NFTs are digital files with verifiable ownership. That means if someone uses an NFT without ownership of the image, they could face legal penalties for copying copyrighted content for personal gain. While it may be easy to copy and paste an NFT image, it’s not a good idea unless the person doing it actually owns the NFT.
- Are you allowed to screenshot NFTs?
- Technically, someone interested in an NFT can take a screenshot to look at from time to time without breaking any laws, but they can’t use that screenshot for their own benefit. That means users can’t use a screenshotted NFT as their profile picture without potential copyright issues.
The information is accurate as of November 2, 2022.
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