An introduction to decentralized NFT catalogs

Over the last year, venture capitalists poured more than $4.6 billion into infrastructure and projects related to

When applying all the standardization approaches and structuring all the data properly, we are creating systematic lists of items publicly stored on the blockchain — decentralized catalogs.

How decentralized cataloging can add new value

Everyone has heard of Guinness World Records, Michelin Guide or IUCN Red List. In a nutshell, they are all extremely valuable catalogs. Behind each of them is a managing authority that invests its brand and expertise in bringing value to every new iteration of the catalog. Even if the rules of adding new items to centralized lists are not transparent or even questioned, this approach is sustainable.

However, the biggest problem these catalogs present is an extremely high barrier to entry for new, valuable lists to enter the market. Through NFT infrastructure and a Web3 mindset, though, we can democratize the process of building valuable catalogs. The difference between a normal list and a decentralized catalog is the potential value it can accumulate.

When you own a CryptoPunk, you are a co-owner of the CryptoPunks collection. Yes, that CryptoPunk may represent your inner self, but on its own, it’s just a JPEG. As we have already discovered, the value is in the collection itself, and the value is created not only by the expertise that went into designing the character generator but also by the owners of the collection.

By building an economy powered by co-ownership, we can make future-proof and transparent catalog systems. While yet another restaurant list will hardly add something new to society, there are plenty of situations where decentralized cataloging makes sense.

The library

Let’s imagine the most basic use case of decentralized cataloging. You own a collection of books and you want to share these books with someone. You know, however, there’s a good chance that those you lend your books to will never return them. That’s life.

So, you start a very simple process of making a record of each book you’re sharing to the decentralized catalog; only each record is actually an NFT.

The person taking the book decides to use it to put his own books on the catalog and share them with someone else, and that person shares it with their friend, too. In a few years, your book-sharing club will become an internet phenomenon, with more and more people adding books to the catalog.

It’s only a matter of time before big publishers join in as well. Some publishers may start adding newly published books to distribute them through the catalog system you created. As we know about NFT compatibility, it’s clear that all the NFT marketplaces and infrastructure we have today will become handy tools and interfaces that will work right out of the box. No need for additional listing websites, centralized bookstores or payment solutions.

And it all started with you, who added the first book as an NFT to the shared collection of books.

The same approach is used in Cointelegraph’s Historical NFT Collection. It is a catalog of news from the largest crypto media outlet, and Cointelegraph readers are choosing which news should be added to it.

The real future of the NFT standard is ordinary, and that’s great. We use many ordinary things every day that were overpriced when they entered the market. As production and technology evolved, however, prices dropped and made them available for everyone.

The same thing will happen with NFTs. The only thing we need to do now is stop staring at the tulips and start designing a garden.

Ivan Sokolov is the founder of Mintmade, a project focused on building new asset classes that will power next-gen Web3 businesses.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.