Glossary · Smart Contracts

NFT.

A native token whose minting policy guarantees a one-of-one supply.

In depth

On Cardano an NFT is simply a native token whose minting policy forbids any further minting once the unique unit exists (or restricts supply to one). Because tokens are a ledger primitive, NFTs do not require a separate contract standard like ERC-721.

Example

A digital collectible whose minting policy is time-locked and was triggered exactly once to mint a single unit is a Cardano NFT.

Next on this path

  1. Minting policy A script that decides whether new units of a native token may be minted or burned.
  2. Native token A custom asset that lives directly inside UTxOs alongside ada, not implemented as a smart contract.