Why crypto is becoming the “port of entry” for all internet media.
I used to work as an artist manager in the music industry. When I started my own company, I believed that whoever owned the music had all the power. Usually, the record labels own the music, so they have all the control over the artists.
The goal of the company is to help artists retain ownership of their work and run their business independently, using technology to reach their fans directly. The company believes that ownership is very important for creators online, and that the role of ownership on technology platforms is often overlooked.
This process is called encoding and it’s a key part of how social media works. Billion of images, videos, songs, and other media are shared on social media platforms every day. When a user posts media on a social media platform, a copy of the media is taken from the user’s device and stored on the platform’s server. This process is called encoding and it is a key part of how social media works.
When someone uploads a file to a platform, they are also giving that platform ownership of the file.
I’m talking about the Terms of Service, which typically specify that when a file is uploaded, its ownership is shared with the platform, to monetize as they see fit. This comes with some advantages: platforms can offer distribution or economies of scale that optimize ad-based revenues. But it’s no secret that today’s monetization models aren’t always aligned with the best interests of creators. And this is where the problem lies. For too long, platforms have gotten the majority of the value from owning creators’ content.
This will create a new way for people to stake their claim in the digital economy—one that isn’t reliant on centralized intermediaries. meCrypto is providing an alternate path which I have termed the Ownership Economy. This concept explains that future internet platforms will be constructed, function, and be owned by users instead of centralized intermediaries. This will give people a new way to invest in the digital economy that does not rely on entities in the middle.
NFTs give creators the ability to own their content, while still allowing it to be shared across the internet. This could potentially result in a new way for creators to make money, rather than relying on platforms like YouTube or Instagram.
NFTs can be thought of as files that live on the blockchain. This means they can’t be copied and pasted, edited, deleted, or otherwise manipulated.
These guarantees come from the same technical properties that make cryptocurrencies valuable. Like Bitcoin, NFTs are digital tokens that can be bought, sold, traded, and their ownership and provenance are always immutably tracked by the blockchain. You own them without the need for any third party to intermediate that ownership.
You can own a digital media asset, like an NFT, in the same way that you would own a digital currency asset, like Bitcoin.
Many people believe that NFTs are nothing more than a new technology trend that will soon fizzle out. However, the money being put into digital art and crypto collectibles is much greater than what is being put into platforms that allow creators to monetize their work today.
I think it’s likely that NFTs will become the standard for all digital media soon. This would include not just traditional 2D audio/visual and text-based media, but also the new 3D media being created for virtual realities and games.
I believe that the future will be pulled forward by the fact that the business model enabled by NFTs is better for every stakeholder involved. This includes creators, their audiences, and developers who can all make more money in a marketplace built around true digital ownership.
I will address some common questions about NFTs that I have heard. The answers below expand on tweetstorms I have written over the last few years.
How do NFTs work?
NFTs are digital tokens that represent a digital file. Each NFT has a unique ID that is registered on a blockchain along with arbitrary metadata about the file. This metadata could include information about the creator, what the file is about, or its price history. When an NFT is minted, this information becomesimmutable, meaning it cannot be changed. This allows anyone who wants to distribute the file on another platform to “check its passport” and see its entire history. This adds value to the file both culturally and financially.
Is there value in owning digital art?
One popular criticism of digital art and collectibles is that they can be easily copied, so they don’t have much value. However, NFTs offer a new way for people to own a piece of art while it still circulates freely online.
The more a file is shared online, the more value it gains. For example, Warhol posters and t-shirts become more popular and valuable as they become more well-known. Owning the original work becomes more desirable and prestigious as its notoriety increases. Additionally, collectors can sell the work for more money if its popularity increases after they purchase it. NFTs allow collectors to get most of the benefits of owning a physical work of art, with the added benefit that they can share their collection freely online without any limitations. Therefore, wider distribution leads to even more value.
Additionally, it is not only art that is growing; the universe of crypto collectibles, game assets, digital fashion, skins, and more is becoming increasingly more difficult to differentiate between art and programmed utility. More information on that can be found below.
Why collect NFTs right now?
NFTs can be collected for a variety of reasons, such as the excitement of finding a new artist or artwork, the possibility of the piece having cultural value, the social status of owning something unique, or the chance of making a profit by selling it in the future.
Many people are collecting NFTs for speculative value. The more people that think an asset might have value, the more value it will have in the market.
The reflexivity of Bitcoin markets refers to the fact that the popularity of Bitcoin grew until it became a global reserve asset. In the same way, NFTs may start out looking like a fun game for crypto whales, but as more money flows into these markets and more creators mint tokens, outsiders will see value changing hands and the perceived value will rise. This positive feedback loop will help drive market activity over time.
Not only can NFT provide support in the field of art, but it is also becoming more and more common for cryptocurrency collectibles, game assets, digital fashion, skins and other content to be classified as art. In the future, it will become increasingly difficult to draw a line between art and practical applications.
Why collect NFT?
People collect NFTs for many reasons, such as:
- however, be patient. Even if you find a new artist or artwork that you really like, it’s important to be patient.
- however, you may fail to find others who share your enthusiasm If you think a work has a lot of cultural value and potential appeal, but you can’t find anyone who agrees with you, you might be wrong.
- however, your involvement in this state is not without consequences Although you may have found a social state that is unique and classic, your involvement in it will not come without consequences.
- If you are willing to sell your work, you may be able to make a profit.
At the moment, a lot of people are collecting NFTs because they think they might be valuable. The NFT market is like other crypto markets in that it’s influenced by people’s beliefs. If more people believe that NFT assets are valuable (for any reason), then the assets will usually be worth more.
For example, the reflexivity of the Bitcoin market started when Bitcoin became more and more popular. In the beginning, Bitcoin was just a Memecoin that could be used to buy pizza, but it has now become the world’s most important reserve asset. This momentum is getting bigger and bigger. Similarly, NFTs may seem like an entertainment activity or a cryptocurrency giant whale game at first, but as more funds flow into these markets – and more and more content creators mint tokens and participate in them – outsiders will see that the value circulation is getting better and better, and the perceived value of the market will also increase. This reflexivity creates a positive feedback loop, and in many cases, over time, this feedback loop helps to promote the inevitable rise of market activity.
In the long run, what is the direction of NFT development?
The question of practicality refers to the eventual replacement of speculative value with functional value. This is because NFT assets are programmable and open, meaning that any developer can build what they need on top of them. Furthermore, because NFTs can be easily carried, they have the potential to occupy a new leadership position in our digital world.
Programmers can use tokens and smart contracts to write and customize DeFi applications, just as people can use Lego blocks to build different structures. In the same way that Lego blocks can be combined to create new objects, NFTs will also become a “building block” that developers and creators can use to remix and create new experiences, without needing permission. This will allow users to have a more enjoyable experience and add more practicality to the items they own.
Is the adoption of NFT inevitable?
I think NFT will become the “port of entry” for all Internet media, because everyone involved in this field can make more money from the market it supports:
For creators
The NFT creator can make more money by selling the NFT directly to fans and charging a usage fee every time the fan resells the NFT. This is a new type of income that can only be obtained when the creator has true digital ownership of the work—when the creator embeds “loyalty logic” into the NFT itself.
For consumers
NFTs are a better model because they combine two resources well:
The new ownership economy platform has a main principle, that is: “Incorporate skin into the game”, it will have an incentive effect. If you want to provide support for creators, there is now a brand new model-I call it “Patronage+”, where “+” is the possibility of getting value with the creators you support. Of course, this is a strong incentive mechanism that has not yet been developed, but I think this mechanism may promote the demand for creative works in the market, thereby attracting more people to participate and give feedback.
For developers
They can make money by establishing a new NFT market. There are many problems with traditional platforms, such as:
In the NFT market, developers who use unlicensed infrastructure can gradually enter the growing ownership market economy. This economy functions in many ways like the real world economy.
Where are we in the NFT adoption cycle?
The bull market in 2021 has caused many markets, including cryptocurrency, to enter a frenzy stage. This is due to the collective investment campaigns by the online community WallStreetBets, which has begun to awaken and generate a lot of mainstream attention and capital.
At the moment, most non-fungible tokens are still found in the world of digital art. However, some new, specialist markets are beginning to explore NFTs too, for example in the form of game world assets (such as those in Axie Infinity), other collectibles that are encrypted (such as Hashmasks and CryptoPunks), or pieces of generative art that have been created using a blockchain program.
We’ve seen a lot of new platforms where people can create and sell NFTs pop up recently. In its first week, Foundation managed to rack up sales of over $150,000, including the first Vine video ever created, which sold for $14,000. Even venture capitalists have started buying AI-generated art (I’m one of them). I should mention that I recently raised funds to publish a paper on the decentralized blogging platform Mirror. I got more than $13,000 in crowdfunding, and then auctioned off my work as an NFT. That way, the people who donated got their money back–with interest.
However, it should be noted that interacting with NFTs is still quite awkward and expensive. It will take some time for this technology to become more affordable and easier to use.
In 2021, the cryptocurrency industry will see major technological upgrades that will help developers push NFTs into larger social networking fields. Zora, for example, has launched an interface similar to Tumblr, where each “post” can appear as an NFT. Because of these social experiences, we have seen a growing NFT market emerge, where users can make money by supporting the creators they like. This gives everyone a strong motivation to participate.
NFTs are not just for collectors, but are also programmable assets that can be mixed by any developer. As developers create a new environment for the survival of NFTs, the needs of digital creators will continue to increase. As long as their works are included in the NFT, they can have indisputable ownership.
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