Multiverse NFTs — soulbond NFTs for a ‘digital asset’

Link to the EIP — https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-5606

In January 2022, Vitalik wrote an excellent blog about soulbound NFTs that are non-transferable, with POAP and Proof-of-humanity being good examples. The buyers need to work or attend some event to get a soulbound NFT, which is non-transferable. It cannot be bought but has to be earned.

We are proposing a new type of NFT, which is tangential to a soulbound NFT but has the flexibility to be converted into a soulbound token.

It is called a Multiverse NFT, representing digital assets across multiple platforms. This wrapper NFT resides one level above its delegate NFTs and “bundles” multiple NFTs, thus creating a single representation for a “digital asset”. While soulbound NFTs could represent some action done by a human being, we are proposing a new standard that represents the various incarnations of a “digital asset”.

Why is it needed?

NFTs in the ecosystem have evolved to represent multiple types of unique non-fungible assets. One asset in the ecosystem includes a set of NFTs (more than 1) related to one another — for example, a set of related wearables. We need a way to represent the relationship and transferability of these NFTs.

How it works

Consider a pair of new shoes being released by Nike or Adidas. In real life, you would buy these shoes and use them everywhere. But in the current digital world, you need to buy these shoes as items (NFTs) in each metaverse! On top of that, the same pair of shoes would have different token IDs and contract addresses on each separate metaverse! In reality, it is the same pair of shoes, and paying for those multiple times on each metaverse is illogical.

We propose a new standard called Multiverse NFTs, which act as a “representation” of these pairs of shoes across ALL the platforms, be it metaverse or games. This Multiverse NFT acts as a wrapper and can own all the delegate NFTs across the platforms. The users can bundle their delegate NFTs from each platform into this Multiverse NFT and sell the whole package, representing the pair of shoes across all the platforms!

Let’s walk through a basic example of how this can be implemented in a DAPP that acts as a wearables launcher. As a pre-prep, a project needs to get the assets designed for each separate platform and metaverse based on their specifications. After that, they must submit the assets on each platform and get them approved. Once this is done, a Multiverse NFT can be accessed. One way is to pre-mint the platform NFTs to the DAPP wallet or ask the buyer to mint the NFTs on the platform one by one.

After the platform NFTs are ready, the buyer will mint a Multiverse NFT; the DAPP can “airdrop” the individual platform NFTs by calling the `bundle` function from the Smart Contract, transferring the platform NFTs to the Multiverse NFT contract. Once the buyer owns a “bundled” Multiverse NFT, they also have an option to “unbundle” the individual platform NFTs and sell them or transfer them to any other wallet one by one.

So many use cases!

Multiverse NFTs are versatile. While they could represent the same asset (e.g. a pair of shoes or a T-shirt) across different metaverses, there are multiple other use cases too. These NFTs are not only limited to representing the same asset across multiple platforms but can also represent multiple assets in the same category. For instance, they could represent a whole outfit for an avatar such as a Spiderman or an Iron Man costume. In this example, all the different costume components could be minted as separate NFTs and then “bundled” into a top-level Multiverse NFT.

Wearables are just the first and the most apparent use case for this new standard we propose. Beyond wearables, the same standard could be used for in-game assets such as weapons, shields, potions, and even armour. Imagine a future where you buy just one weapon, for example, a Sword as a Multiverse NFT. In turn, you get access to this Sword across multiple other games in its various incarnations, all with different properties, in-game powers and attack and defence stats! Now imagine a scenario when you don’t just buy one Sword, but you could also own a whole armour set (helmet, cloak, breeches, gloves).

Multiverse NFTs and Souldbound NFTs

Multiverse NFTs are valuable not only to gamers but also to the game developers themselves. Games such as Assassin’s Creed or Cyberpunk usually sell Legendary, Epic, Common weapons and armour sets packages. These sets could theoretically be bunched together as Multiverse NFTs and sold to the collectors/gamers. They could also make these NFTs “soulbond”.

So, for example, if a top-level Multiverse NFT is non-transferable, it could represent the various versions of the same asset/collection/set across multiple platforms and games, and the studio could have several conditions for the users to gain this NFT. They could create a loyalty program or an early bird access system. The possibilities are endless, and we are just scratching the surface!

Links

• Example of game package sets— Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Premium Starter Pack
• Discussion link for this standard — https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/eip-5606-multiverse-nfts-for-digital-asset-interoperability/10698