Introduction
Since the inception of Bitcoin, a small but steadily growing part of the population have believed crypto will radically alter the perception of value, money and finance. People are now starting to wake up to this concept, yet it is non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are currently flying under people’s radar. NFTs have the potential to alter our society and culture.
Property Rights
NFT have created strong digital property rights and uniqueness. This allows further development of a metaverse, whereby a virtual world is created and allows participants to own unique digital assets. More importantly, this can be accessed through decentralised virtual infrastructure.
The year 2020 has shown us, now more than ever, how dangerous the Internet and social media can be. Google, Facebook and other tech giants attempt to control the flow of information that reaches you. We have had political censorship, tweets causing accounts to be banned and even a NetFlix programme “The Social Dilemma” where focal ex-employees have spoken out about how out of control AI and social media has become.
Property rights allow you secure your digital property that cannot be seized by these tech giants with their unscrupulous and draconian actions. This creates consumer confidence allowing communities to thrive and secure economy to grow. NFTs are at the forefront of creating a true metaverse, in societal shift towards living in a virtual world.
Gaming
Google is one of the worst offenders for accessing consumer data, yet many people run Google ads as a way of generating money. NFTS allow content creators and streamers to access revenue from beyond these boundaries. Instead of a Twitch streamer using ads for revenue, NFTs provide a simple but effective model of providing rewards in return for participation (play to earn model). This concept has been used in games such as World of Warcraft.
Land
Similarly, platforms like Decentraland allow you purchase land with their cryptocurrency $MANA that can then be built upon and monetised, where it is possible to rent out space and charge for entry to events. This Ethereum based virtual world is one of the first digital platforms owned entirely by the users. Consumers interact on the platform using NFT assets developing games, applications, gambling services and powerful 3D scenes. The platform raised an impressive $26 million in 2017 via its ICO. There is clearly an underlying interest from those that are aware of this world.
Economic and Sustainability
We live in a flawed world where consumption and growth is valued above all else, yet we are at the tipping point of an ecological disaster. The more of the world’s resources that we use, the more “value” that is being realised. The current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) model doesn’t solve this problem!
A solution is to start forming portions of the global economy to be internet-based, that is ran around NFT assets. Secured property rights and cheap to create, we would not need to harvest the world’s resources when code can easily replicate these in a less harmful manner. Perhaps surprisingly, this virtual world would then continue to add to GDP and add value in a sustainable manner.
Conclusion
Just as with the inception of Bitcoin all those years ago, the ability to recognise NFTs as a solution for societal change can be viewed with scepticism. However, given the functionality of NFTs they do have the ability to create a true metaverse. Virtual worlds can transform how society operates across a host of sectors, not such from a gaming perspective. It is an exciting prospect that people can live, work, and play sustainable for us all!