NFT Standards Explained: ERC-721, ERC-1155, and What Really Matters

When you buy an NFT, you’re not just buying a picture—you’re buying a NFT standard, a set of rules that tells the blockchain how to treat your digital asset. Also known as token standards, these are the invisible frameworks that decide if your NFT can be traded, displayed, or used in games. Without them, every NFT would be a lonely file with no way to talk to wallets, marketplaces, or apps.

Two standards dominate the space: ERC-721, the original NFT standard on Ethereum that gives each token unique, non-interchangeable value, and ERC-1155, a smarter, more flexible version that lets one contract handle both unique and bulk tokens. ERC-721 is what made CryptoPunks and Bored Apes possible—each one is its own thing. ERC-1155 is what games and collectibles use today because it’s cheaper and lets you bundle 100 different items in one transaction. Think of ERC-721 as a single rare baseball card, and ERC-1155 as a pack of 10 cards you can open all at once.

These standards don’t just control trading—they affect how metadata works, what properties your NFT can carry, and even if it can be used across platforms. A game that accepts ERC-1155 tokens can give you a weapon, a skin, and a currency all in one smart contract. A marketplace built for ERC-721 might ignore your ERC-1155 NFT entirely. That’s why checking the standard matters more than the image. And it’s why so many NFT projects fail—they build flashy art but skip the technical backbone.

You’ll find posts here that dig into real NFT projects built on these standards—some working, some abandoned. You’ll see how token metadata gets misused, how scams hide behind fake standards, and why some NFTs trade for nothing even if they look cool. This isn’t about hype. It’s about understanding what’s actually on the blockchain—and what’s just noise.