Token Bound Accounts: The Next Evolution of NFTs

It’s no question that NFTs have come a long way since their early days as JPEGs on the blockchain. Today, in gaming, they enable real ownership of the characters you’ve built and items you’ve earned. With the advent of Token Bound Accounts proposed in ERC-6551, the world of blockchain gaming is on the cusp of another monumental shift. NFTs are poised to shift from being static assets into being dynamic, action-capable entities with unique identities. Let’s dive into the features of ERC-6551 and game-changing possibilities (pun-intended) it enables in the realm of gaming.

‍

Beyond Static Ownership

‍

The heart of ERC-6551 is its perspective of NFTs as on-chain dynamic entities. No longer are NFTs mere collectibles or representations of in-game asset - they become characters with their own wallets, capable of owning, trading, and transacting. This shift breathes life into gaming avatars, making them more than just playable characters—they become entities with a history, achievements, and assets.

‍

On the surface, TBAs provide some functional advantages, like asset portability or lowering the cost of transferring game assets. But that’s just scratching the surface. Blockus is working on whole new gaming paradigms enabled by TBAs:

‍

• Character Identities: With TBAs, NFTs can have their own history and assets - the pieces of its own character identity. Achievements, experiences, and assets can be bound to characters instead of player accounts. A knight character could collect soulbound accolades, POAPs from special raids, enchanted items, and even titles and guild memberships that stay with them.
• Dynamic Storylines: The storyline of a game could dynamically evolve based on the collective actions and assets of characters in the game. Token Bound Accounts could hold key pieces of an unfolding narrative, allowing for a player-driven storytelling experience.
• Token-Bound Skills and Abilities: Characters could acquire new skills, abilities, or even professions based on the tokens held in their Token Bound Accounts, allowing for highly unique characters and gameplay.
• Character-Led Quests: Imagine quests or missions initiated by the characters themselves based on the assets or tokens they hold. A character with a rare artifact could create and lead a quest to unlock its powers, inviting other players to join in.

‍

Great, now that we’re pumped about building with TBAs, does this mean we have to start from scratch? Luckily, the team that proposed ERC-6551 designed it to be maximally compatible, meaning: 

‍

• It works with 100% of existing NFTs
• It allows NFTs to hold any token - ERC20, 721, and 1155
• No wrapping contracts needed
• Works with existing platforms
• Fully decentralized

‍

How do TBAs work?

Let’s take a look at the architectural diagram from the proposal itself.

The middle column shows the heart of ERC-6551 - a registry that manages the relationship between the NFT and their associated addresses. It’s important to note that this registry that can be deployed permissionlessly, allowing for decentralized persistence. TBAs are deployed using the create2 function, ensuring that contracts have predictable addresses. The spec also provides an account interface to implements token-bound accounts in the ERC-721 contracts.

‍

Conclusion

We’re super excited about the types of gameplay that TBAs enable. To learn more, check out the ERC-6551 proposal and the official Tokenbound website.

‍

Follow the official twitter account to keep an eye out for ERC-6551 events all over the world, like the last one at Korea Blockchain week that we were able to attend. There might be one coming to a city near you!

‍

‍