Provenance

Provenance is the documented history of an asset’s origin and transfers. An on-chain record can show token creation and transfers. It does not automatically establish creator identity, copyright or authenticity of an associated object; those connections require additional evidence.

Written by Pablo Gómez

Founder & CEO at Metlabs · Reviewed on October 11, 2026

A token history can establish its origin contract, minting and recorded transfers. Queries concern a specific network and may require archive data.

This history does not itself identify people behind addresses. An unauthorized copy can have a complete transfer history without being authentic.

Reliable provenance combines technical records with evidence concerning issuer, work and rights. External events do not automatically appear in token history.

Sources

ERC-721: Non-Fungible Token Standard

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NFT royaltiesNFT royalties are the fee a creator or issuer earns on each resale of an NFT in the secondary market, expressed as a percentage of the sale price. The ERC-2981 standard normalizes how to query that fee, though its payment depends on whether the marketplace chooses to apply it.
PFP (Profile Picture NFT)A PFP (Profile Picture) is an image used as an avatar or profile photo. In an NFT context, it refers to collections whose tokens are associated with avatar images. Collection size, attributes and access features depend on the project; no collection size is mandatory.
Play-to-earn (P2E)Play-to-earn (P2E) is a video-game economic model in which players obtain digital assets with market value, fungible tokens or NFTs, in exchange for their time and skill and can sell or trade them outside the game, thereby inverting the traditional pay-to-play model.
RevealA reveal is the NFT launch mechanic by which each token's final image and metadata stay hidden during the mint, showing a generic placeholder, and are unveiled afterward, usually once the mint closes, by switching the source of the metadata.
Semi-fungible token (SFT)A semi-fungible token (SFT) is a token that can behave as fungible, interchangeable and with quantity, in one phase and become non-fungible or unique in another, or that combines a unique identity with a divisible numeric value. It bridges the fungible ERC-20 model and the non-fungible ERC-721 model.
Soulbound token (SBT)A soulbound token (SBT) is a non-transferable token permanently tied to an account or wallet, designed to represent credentials, affiliations, reputation or identity rather than transferable financial value. Its defining feature is non-transferability: it cannot be bought or sold on a secondary market.

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