Core essence of an NFT

Question

I still find NFTs slightly mysterious. Is it possible to think of an NFT in terms of existing token contracts, as the T in the name suggests, e.g. would it be fair to say the following definition constitutes an NFT, if perhaps not the most advanced NFT standard of course:

A regular token contract on a blockchain, where:

1. Max supply = 1
2. Total supply = 1
3. Circulating supply = 1
4. Decimals = 0

In which case an NFT at the most basic level could be viewed as an edge case of a regular token contract. I realise there are standards/protocols surrounding the development of NFTs bit I'm just trying to get to the core of what an NFT is in terms of regular tokens.

Answer 1

I wouldn't compare it to the 'regular' ERC-20 tokens. Each NFT (ERC-721) contract typically contains multiple different NFTs, so in that sense your thoughts about supply = 1 are wrong.

Usually each unique NFT also contains some (arbitrary) metadata - I would say that's an important feature also.

Just think of one NFT as an unique combination of "blockchain ID (which blockchain it's on) + contract address + NFT ID (tokenID)". An NFT can either represent something else (an ownership of a physical house, perhaps) or be just something living in the blockchain world.