How Multi-Utility NFTs Are Redefining the Digital Asset Landscape
We all watched: most of us with slight disbelief, some even jumped in, when the NFT market exploded with profile pictures (PFPs) of apes, punks and pixel art. For a brief moment, to a select group, they represented status, access and identity in the digital world. But the hype faded pretty fast, begging the question: What’s next for NFTs?
A solid answer emerged, and I think we can all agree that NFT utility is a meaningful proposition.
Understanding Multi-Utility NFTs
Multi-utility NFTs expand on the function of early NFT releases. NFTs now have the capability to be community tools operating as a security token that offers future governance rights and early access to integrations, in addition to revenue sharing. NFTs are also being used as the user experience layer of Web3.
Communities quickly tired of speculative assets that do little more than decorate a wallet or signal membership. The next generation of NFTs isn’t about flexing — it’s about function. People want tokens that do something. They should unlock real value for the holder.
NFTs are not dying — they’re maturing. As the space evolves, tokens that do nothing are being replaced by those that unlock something.
The Old Guard of NFTs
The nascent NFTs generally offered three main features:
Verifiable Ownership and Authenticity
Because NFTs use blockchain technology, this creates a tamper-proof record of who owns the asset. This ensures the provenance and authenticity of items. Yes, someone could copy/paste your JPEG, but only one Web3 wallet can demonstrate ownership. From digital art to collectibles, or, if backed by a solid audit layer, even real-world goods, can be verified, helping to combat counterfeiting and fraud.
Built-in Scarcity
NFTs are often issued in limited quantities, introducing scarcity. By controlling supply, creators can make assets more desirable and potentially more valuable, similar to how limited-edition physical items are prized by collectors.
Community Building and Engagement
From the outset, it was clear that NFT projects were focused on fostering active communities by offering holders exclusive benefits, such as access to special events, private groups, or unique experiences. This sense of belonging and direct engagement with creators or brands is a major draw for many NFT-as-JPEG enthusiasts.
How NFT Utility Is Evolving
Over time, more and more utility has been added to these on-chain JPEGs to the point they bear little resemblance to their distant ancestors.
Pudgy Penguins is a great example of a community-based project that went beyond the flex. Holders of the Pudgy NFT received significant airdrops, most notably the PENGU token. For example, in December 2024, each holder was given 1.7 million PENGU tokens, which at peak resale value could be worth over $100,000 per NFT.
Pudgy Penguins embraced a multi-utility approach evolving beyond being a collectible-plus gang, blending financial rewards, community engagement, physical goods and gaming — all within a single NFT ecosystem.
And that’s only the start. More NFTs have emerged offering meaningful utility. What’s particularly interesting is that when revenue share becomes part of the utility set, then NFTs start to look a lot more like shares.
For example, NodeOps recently launched UNO, a utility NFT designed to unlock rewards, perks and access to decentralized compute infrastructure. UNO holders didn’t just buy a JPEG, they invested in a security token. This means that, should the cloud compute business continue to be revenue-positive, they will extract a revenue share every quarter. Furthermore, given that this is a multi-utility NFT, the holders get boosted incentives, future governance rights, and early access to integrations across partner protocols — those perks common to the old guard NFTs.
This initiative is now closed, with the NFT no longer available to buy, but the community response was enthusiastic. It’s clear that developers, compute providers, and compute consumers weren’t in it for another collectible. They need credentials and benefits they can use in the real (and virtual) work they do every day.
Most importantly for NodeOps, fundraising by selling an NFT side-stepped having to publicly list a token in the troubled market conditions they faced (those being a 21 percent drop in the crypto market cap over the previous quarter. And by locking the NFT to the minting wallet for a year, the NFT’s price was protected from the current economic headwinds to gamble on a brighter future.
The UX Layer for Web3
Utility NFTs are more than just functional tokens. They blur the line between front-end UX and back-end logic, acting as both identity, access, and reward mechanisms in one portable object. Utility NFTs are evolving into smart, user-centric interfaces — they’re becoming the user experience layer of Web3.
- They can replace a publicly-listed token.
- They simplify allowlists.
- They offer programmable, modular access to real-world infrastructure.
Future of NFTs
Over the next year, I believe we’ll see more and more projects releasing NFTs that offer real-world value, not just loyalty points and early access, but access to revenue. NFTs are starting to look a lot more like owning a share than a JPEG.
PFPs had their moment, and they will always have their fans, but the dominant narrative is shifting. Utility is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s the default expectation. More than that, I think the era of defining what “type” of utility an NFT offers may already be over: here’s to a new era of the multi-utility NFT.