Features, Advantages and Disadvantages of Blockchain Technology

In 2025, the crypto market reached a mature stage. Smart contracts have become part of everyday architecture, metaverses have gained influence, and digital assets have become the standard in business. In this context, the question of what NFT tokens are has become particularly relevant: not as a passing trend, but as the basis for the digitalization of rights, identity, and ownership in the Web3 economy.

What are NFT tokens?

NFT (non-fungible tokens) means “non-fungible tokens”. Each of them represents a separate digital object recorded on the blockchain. Unlike fungible tokens (e.g. USDT, ETH), which can be exchanged one-to-one, each NFT has an individual identifier and metadata that cannot be forged or cloned.

What are NFT tokens in technical terms? They are records in a smart contract with built-in information: authorship, creation date, file URI, license, and transaction history. This structure makes possession a proof of authenticity, unrepeatability and ownership, which cannot be lost or replaced by a simple copy.

The Market in 2025: Reinvented

By 2025, the NFT market will have abandoned inflationary collectibles and focused on utility objects. The focus has shifted from art and advertising to practical solutions. Asset owners will gain access to services, features, leasing, DAO voting, rating verification, and even digital identity. What are NFT tokens today: a club pass, an event ticket, a letter of credit, a subscription, a certificate, API access, or a share on a decentralized platform? Instruments have become legally meaningful objects with respect to corporate law.

Practical application: what are NFT tokens?

NFTs are used in logistics, real estate, education, insurance, music, film, and sports. Thanks to tokenization, the design, distribution, and control of assets have become dozens of times easier. By 2025, the asset will be used as:

a key to launching applications and subscriptions (access via token);

• a voting tool in DAOs and decentralized games;
• KYC identification element without revealing personal data;
• registration of intellectual property rights;
• digital receipt of a financial loan;
• access to a rented physical or digital asset;
• certificate of completion of a course or exam;
• Internal currency of the metaverse with a specific purpose.

Smart contracts and the ERC standard

NFTs are created according to the ERC-721 standard (or derivatives ERC-1155, ERC-3525, etc.). The standards define which functions a token must support: verification of the owner, translation, URI binding and creation and destruction events.

At the smart contract level, the functionality is fully automated. The owner has the ability to freely dispose of the token, independently of a third-party intermediary. It can be transferred, sold, burned, delegated or used as collateral in DeFi protocols. What are NFT tokens in the eyes of a developer? An object with a clear ABI interface and integration into the blockchain infrastructure. No bank, registrar or notary approval is required for its implementation. The code automates everything.

Law and identity: the new role of NFTs in the digital society

The legal recognition of NFTs is a logical step in the digital transformation. In 2025, the token began to fulfill the function of digital identity. Instead of usernames and passwords, users provide a token that is linked to a wallet and confirmed by a series of smart contracts. NFTs have become not only an asset, but also an ‘identity key’: a digital signature, a business card and an ID in one.

In education, objects such as diplomas are used. The admissions committee, employer or client receives an NFT certificate with immutable metadata: course name, study hours, completion date and name of the teacher. This excludes forgery and makes it easier to verify data.

What are NFT tokens in metaverses: building blocks?

The gaming industry continues to use NFTs as modular components in virtual worlds. Virtual lands, buildings, skins, artifacts, and contracts are created as assets, allowing the user to own and control the content created in the game outside of the platform. Players sell character skins, rent out arenas, collect equipment in the form of tokens, and use them in projects ranging from role-playing games to e-sports. In metaverses, NFTs fulfill multiple functions: land rights, event tickets, access to private clubs, personalized avatars, and branded visuals.

Financial ecosystem: DeFi and NFT in one package

Decentralized finance (DeFi) goes beyond using NFTs as art. Tokens have become collateral in lending protocols, a guarantee for launching new projects, and a digital asset that can be fractionalized, traded, and used to generate liquidity. A project with real estate-backed NFTs gives investors access to rental income. On DeFi platforms, you can earn interest with tokens, participate in staking or receive an airdrop that you can store in your wallet.

Markets and infrastructure: a system of mature solutions

To work with NFTs in 2025, a whole range of tools are used: wallets (MetaMask, Rabby, Phantom), marketplaces (OpenSea, Rarible, LooksRare), collection generators, API integrations, minting tools and airdrops.

Smart contracts are created in visual designers without code. Object owners subscribe to automatic actions: notifications, updates, rollups, DAO participation. What are NFT tokens in this context? An interface between the user and the platform, secured by the blockchain. Thanks to the infrastructure, any brand could launch them without the intervention of a programmer. This is the democratized Web3. Token creation, metadata management, and connection to registries have been simplified, and cross-chain support has been introduced.

Copyright: Protection of content in digital media

Creators use NFTs as a legally meaningful mechanism to protect rights. An artist, musician, or writer obtains authorship of a digital work through a smart contract. The token records the date of creation, the hash file, the creator’s name, and metadata. These are all stored on the blockchain and cannot be edited. This makes counterfeiting impossible and disputes easy to resolve. What are NFT tokens for content creators in 2025? The act of registration. The creator is given a tool that replaces the notary, lawyer, and copyright registry. Marketplaces support royalty payments. When assets are resold, a percentage of the proceeds is automatically transferred to the author. This mechanism provides passive income and makes creativity not only free, but also permanently monetizable.

Business Challenges: B2B Value

Companies are implementing NFTs for access control, employee certification, transaction verification and customer loyalty. Each employee card or specialist badge is issued as a token. Access to sensitive information, areas, files or equipment depends on the presence of assets in the wallet.

Retail chains use them as bonus cards. The customer receives a token with a purchase history, unique offers and the ability to upgrade. In the document flow of companies, these tools replace physical signatures and in logistics they record traces of goods movements. What are NFT tokens for companies? A tool to reduce costs, increase transparency and automate internal processes.

Conclusion

NFTs are no longer a hype. In 2025, they will be a technologically mature, legally formalized and economically applicable instrument. Each token is an encoded carrier of a unique digital or physical right. They are used in education, the gaming industry, finance, law, business and identity management. What are NFT tokens today? A bridge between the digital and the real world. They register authorship, provide access, manage rights, facilitate interaction and generate trust. The era of superficial views on tools is over.

The world of digital technology has exploded thanks to blockchain, a powerful and multifunctional system that is not only changing the way we think about financial transactions but is also reshaping almost every industry. The essence of blockchain is not just a series of blocks and data, but a radically new form of information storage and transfer that eliminates intermediaries, reduces the risk of fraud, and makes processes transparent. This technology has already attracted the attention of major companies and governments, including the Russian Federation.

What Blockchain is and how it works

A digital ledger in which information is recorded in successive, interconnected blocks. The essence of blockchain: imagine an invisible chain of data where each block is protected by a complex cryptographic code – a hash. The hash is created to protect the information. If someone tries to change the data in one block, it affects all subsequent blocks. Blockchain technology is based on transparency and reliability: once the data is written down, it cannot be changed.

After forming the basis for Bitcoin, blockchain has developed into a standalone technology that goes far beyond cryptocurrencies. The essence of this is that trust between the participants in the process is not mediated by a third party (for example, a bank), but by an algorithm. That’s right, decentralization bypasses many problems associated with the human factor.

What is the essence, and why is blockchain needed?

Technology has replaced old centralized systems that were vulnerable to corruption, malfunctions and hacking. Thanks to blockchain, it is possible to guarantee the transparency and reliability of transactions. For example, in Russia, the technology is used to track supply chains, make them more efficient and prevent counterfeiting.

One of the best examples is its use in government systems. The Russian Federation is already experimenting with its application in the electoral system, which helps prevent fraud and ensures the integrity of elections.

Blockchain principles: Why is decentralization important?

Decentralization is the cornerstone of blockchain’s operation. Imagine a system in which there is no central authority that can control or change data. The information is stored on thousands of computers (nodes), and each participant has the same rights. If one computer fails or is hacked, the others will continue to work and ensure the integrity of the data.

The goal of decentralization is to make the blockchain system resistant to attacks and errors because there is no single point of failure. This is especially important for financial and government systems, where failure or fraud can have serious consequences.

An example of a decentralized system using blockchain

One of the clearest examples of decentralized systems is the Ethereum platform, which has taken the concept to a new level. Ethereum has been used to develop thousands of smart contracts: automated agreements that are executed without human intervention. This allows companies to automate their processes and eliminate the need for intermediaries.

Another important example is decentralized applications (dApps) that run on the blockchain. They are used in a variety of sectors, from gaming to finance, and offer a high degree of transparency and security. Russia has also started developing similar solutions, for example, for logistics and accounting of state assets.

Blockchain Structure: What’s Behind This Technology?

The structure consists of many elements that work together to form a system that is protected from outside influences. Each block contains three main components: data, a hash of the current block, and a hash of the previous block. These hashes are unique cryptographic keys that link the blocks together and ensure the security of the chain.

A blockchain starts with a so-called genesis block – the first block in the chain. Each new block is then added through the mining process, which involves performing complex cryptographic tasks. This technology ensures that a new block is only added after the network has confirmed it. The result is a secure, unbroken chain of data that cannot be changed or deleted.

The importance of nodes

The nodes in the blockchain are the computers that keep the entire system running by storing information about all transactions and validating them. They act as independent guardians of the data and participants in the network: they are not subordinate to a central server, but act as part of a decentralized system.

Each node owns a complete copy of the blockchain and is responsible for verifying new blocks. If the data in a block does not comply with the rules of the network, it is rejected by the nodes. This makes the system transparent and reliable, because the data is verified by multiple participants.

Applications and perspectives of blockchain: advantages and disadvantages

The advantages are clear. First of all, there is transparency: all data is accessible to all participants in the network, which eliminates fraud. In addition, the blockchain offers security: the data is protected by cryptography and cannot be changed. Another advantage is the absence of intermediaries. This allows companies to save on transactions and simplify processes.

But there are also disadvantages. One of the biggest problems is the high energy consumption during mining. To keep the blockchain running, a lot of computing power is needed, which entails high energy costs. There is also a problem with scalability: as the network grows, the load on the nodes increases, which can slow down the system.

Examples of blockchain use in Russia

In Russia, the technology is actively used in various areas. A clear example is the introduction of blockchain to trace the origin of goods. Large companies such as Nornickel use them to manage their supply chains and ensure transparency of their activities.

This technology is also being used in the public sector. Moscow has already started pilot projects based on blockchain technology for the management of state assets and the registration of real estate rights. This makes the processes more transparent and prevents corrupt practices.

The future of blockchain and cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether have already proven themselves as decentralized means of payment. The future of blockchain lies in the development of smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi), which allow users to manage their finances without banks.

In the field of quantum blockchain, there are also developments that will offer even higher levels of security and performance. Scalability and energy costs are being considered.

Conclusion

The core of blockchain is decentralization and transparency. This makes it a revolutionary technology for many sectors. The future of this technology lies in innovation, which will only accelerate its adoption.