PoW-Based NFTs in 2021: A Comparison

NFT stands for non-fungible token. It is used to represent "unique" assets. The opposite of NFT is FT, fungible token. Each unit of FT has the same value and can be exchanged, such as gold, bitcoin, etc. NFT can be subdivided into many types like avatar, game, trading card, text, artwork, certificate, etc. For example, CryptoPunk is an avatar NFT and CryptoKitty is a game NFT.

From being a nobody to being recognized by the market, NFTs' forms seem unlimited. Every NFT enthusiast is constantly looking for the next NFT hotspot, and new users also want to seek new opportunities in the playground. This article aims to introduce a new type of NFT: a PoW based NFT. Below are listed three currently known PoW based NFTs for readers to compare whether which will be the next hotspot and opportunity in the NFT market.

Every NFT collector should have heard of MoonCatRescue. The vast majority think it is just an early veteran NFT that only falls behind CryptoPunk. However, it is the earliest PoW NFT on the Ethereum chain. The first MoonCat NFT was created on August 10th, 2017 by its two creators, who are known as Ponderware.

MoonCat is a pixel cat automatically generated by a hash. Initially, there were more than 4 billion possible MoonCats variants, but only 25,600 of them can be added to the smart contract, and are now all in circulation. To get a MoonCat, you only need to connect the Ethereum wallet to the website and use website(CPUs) to search for MoonCat. Since it just relies on a simple "generating algorithm," a MoonCat can be located in a few minutes without consuming too much computing power.

After finding MoonCat, the system will prompt whether to rescue it or leave it on the moon. If you choose to save it, you will cost around 0.02 ETH to mint to become its new owner and give it a home on the chain. You can choose to put your MoonCat away or give it to someone else. If you want, you can also choose to name your MoonCat. MoonCat can only be named once, the name is permanently immutable even if it is adopted by others.

The scarcity of MoonCat is mainly reflected in the fact that 64 of them are pure black or white. They are MoonCat' ancestors. In addition, if the Moon Cat's number is close to #0, which represents the first generated Moon Cat, it is generally more valuable.

Hacash Diamond is not running on the Ethereum chain but has its own chain--Hacash. The project started from an anonymous white paper. There is no founder or investor manipulating the project. That is, Hacash Diamond's development and operation are completely dominated by the community and the market. On May 16, 2019, the first Hacash Diamond was born. It was the first non-Ethereum PoW NFT and also the first text-based NFT. The generated text of the first Hacash Diamond is "NHMYYM".

Each Hacash Diamond consists of 6 random letters and is in a special diamond shape. In total, there are 1677,7216 diamonds in 9 different shapes and of 16 colors decorating them. Theoretically, 58 diamonds can be mined each day and it takes 800 years to get all of them mined. However, the difficulty of mining Hacash Diamond will gradually increase over time, and will never decrease. After a certain point in time, its mining difficulty will exceed that of Bitcoin. And it is estimated that only 100,000 Hacash Diamond will be in circulation by 2025.

Hacash Diamond requires CPUs to mine. In theory, like Bitcoin, as the mining difficulty increases and public approbation increases, ASIC miners can be developed for mining. Moreover, after a Hacash Diamond being mined, another PoW token on the Hacash chain, HAC, is required for bidding. The Hacash Diamond will go to the highest bidder. When the market demand for Hacash Diamond decreases, it can be closed for mining.

The scarcity of Hacash Diamond mainly comes from the unique combination of 8 shapes, 16 colors, and random letters from "WTYUIAHXVMEKBSZN". In addition, the scarcity also depends on the community and the market's creativity to interpret these combinations.

Another PoW based NFT has a very straightforward name: PoW NFT. Born on March 12th, 2021, it claims it was the first PoW NFT based on the Ethereum blockchain. It has a development team.

Each PoW NFT Atom is based on the token's hash, which determines elements such as the ionic charge, the colour palette, the position and motion of each electron, and many more subtle features. Its total is theoretically unlimited. Its total amount depends on demands in the market, and the mining difficulty goes up with the number of mined atoms. After more than 40,000 atoms are mined, it would become hard for each atom to be produced.

The difficulty of mining will increase by 3 times in each cycle, which means that the average production time will also increase by 3 times. Since there is no upper limit on the number of atoms, the system has an explosion of mining difficulty in the 14th cycle (starting at number #16384). After that, it becomes infinitely difficult for an atom to be mined, meaning that the upper limit of atom NFT is 16384. The cost of mining increases by 2 times per cycle, and the current cost of mining each atom is 0.18 ETH.

Depending on the configuration of the personal computer, the average production time for an POW NFT is different. According to the testing results, it takes 1 minute for a laptop to mine the 258th PoW NFT, and an average of 1 hour to get the 2048th PoW NFT. When the number rises to 8192, it takes 6 hours on average.

The scarcity of POW NFT lies in the number of atoms. The higher the number of atoms, the more difficult it is to mine the PoW NFT, the scarcer it is, and the higher its value.

PoW based NFTs also are mineable NFTs. It is a new form in the NFT market. Since PoW requires energy, this feature adds cost to mining these NFTs, and the visualization has given birth to the "art generated by computing power," similar to the "art generated by algorithms". However, the development of such NFT has just begun. Most PoW NFTs like MoonCat is just formalist PoW. Besides, the mining algorithm and production mechanism of PoW NFT are not fair. Unlike these PoW NFTs, Hacash Diamond's PoW design is very similar to Bitcoin, but it is not on the Ethereum chain.

This form is relatively unfamiliar to many NFT collectors, and we expect more people to pay attention to PoW based NFTs. As a representative of PoW based coins, Bitcoin is always topping the market value in the FT market. And the popularity of the PoW based NFT projects introduced above also confirms the prospect of this new track. After all, PoW is currently the most mature consensus mechanism with the highest public approbation. Let's wait for the next wave of PoW based NFTs.

[1] What is MoonCat ​Rescue? (2021, March 23). Uxsequence. https://www.uxsequence.io/learn/article/what-is-moon-cat-rescue/

[2]Mooncatrescue. (n.d.). Insanely Cute Operation. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from https://mooncatrescue.com/

[3]Hacash.diamonds. (n.d.). What is hacd. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from https://www.hacash.diamonds/what-is-hacd

[4]PoW NFT. (n.d.). About. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from https://www.pownft.com/about

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