It’s early May 2021. I’m on the phone with an old friend trying to reinvent his life. “Have you heard of NFTs?” he asked me. Nope. I hadn’t. He texted me a link: opensea.io. I spent the next half hour scrolling through monkeys with sailor hats, pixelated punks, and tripped out animations on loop. I wasn’t sure just how much an ETH was, but a quick google informed me that some guy, code name Beeple, sold one of these NFTs for $69,000,000. Um. What?
A few weeks later, I was at a Covid-style small gathering in Brooklyn. It happened to include the human behind Simulation Lab, which I knew to be a fairly popular Instagram feed. I found out he actually sells the artwork as NFTs. What was merely a passion project a year earlier had become a legit source of income. Hello, a whole new industry. Welcome to a world where digital creations have real financial value.
**Disclaimer. 1) If you’re one of those who claim no real understanding of crypto, and yet have a vehement stance against it because it’s terrible for the environment or a giant scam as told to you by some uniformed article on Mashable, stop reading and go join Q(you’re a mor)Anon. 2) I’m just joshing. You’re not a moron and this is not financial advice. It’s purely Matrix-y philosophizing fun. Curious? Take the red pill…
Mid May, I entered the world of crypto investment. Prices had crashed. It seemed like a good time to get in (if this logic seems strange to you, please don’t invest ever). In the following months, I was hooked.
My mind surfed the mega waves of possibility. I began dumping my greenbacks into projects that fit my fancy. It’s misleading to say I was investing in cryptocurrency. This was more about the communities and businesses building an astonishing future, revealed to me like a school kid learning that stars are not just fireflies stuck in that big blueish-black thing. Seem foolhardy to you? Well, hakuna matata. Allow me to drop some science.
Let’s backtrack to Mr. Simulation Lab. As mentioned, he has a pretty popular Instagram. You might be thinking, “Dude was already making that money. Influencers get paid!” Well, you’re not wrong, but guess who owns that content? Instagram does. They take the lion’s share of revenue just like YouTube and Spotify and all the rest (called “aggregators” by crypto nerds). The creator is left nibbling on scraps. With the advent of the non fungible token (NFT), suddenly far more power (and thus profit) goes to the person(s) doing the creating. It also offers a wealth of creative opportunities. Allow me to further welcome you to the proverbial Zion through a personal project.
Yes. I have my own NFTs. One of which you can see above. At face value, it’s simply a digital photograph. Before NFTs there really wasn’t a market for digital photography. But now, you could go to my storefront and purchase one for your Zoom backdrop, computer wallpaper or whatever you like and be directly supporting me, the artist.
“Why wouldn’t I just right click and not pay for it? This is dumb.” Maybe that’s what you’re thinking. Well, first off, don’t be a jerk. Second, it’s more than just a picture. Each one of these images is a verifiable ticket into a giant scavenger hunt and Jedi quest being carefully crafted by yours truly. In the NFT world, this is called “utility” and most NFTs have functionality beyond what meets the eye.
What you find on my Rarible storefront is the first ten (10) of one hundred (100) digital Wanderwest images to be sold. Beyond these will be ten (10) specialized images. Below is a glimpse (another one is seen, for the time being, as my FB banner). Built in are riddles that unlock the maze.
All 110 NFTs are digitally scarce, there’s only one of each of them, which means that whoever possesses one (1) of the ten (10) specialized images holds the key to a particular part of the Wanderverse. Ticket holders (the other 100) are in possession of a short cut past the gate. And, here’s yet another functionality, they can be resold for whatever profit you think you can get. However, this Wanderwest creator gets 20% each time. These royalties are beautifully built into a smart contract on the blockchain.
Here’s your moment, haters of a pseudo-environmentalist nature. My NFTs were born on Tezos, a blockchain that is energy efficient and working toward a carbon negative output. The majority of blockchains use the same format called “proof of stake” and not the “proof of work” mining system everyone foams at the mouth about in regard to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
But hold up. Slow down. Let’s tumble back down to Earth for sec. There are barriers to entry. This crypto wilderness is far from having its shit together. Let’s just say you want to buy one of my NFTs. You’d need to sign up for a crypto exchange, buy enough Tezos, open a corresponding software wallet that works with Rarible (here’s the one I use), move the coins to that software wallet, get a Rarible account by loading in the wallet, and only then you can finally buy. Confused yet?
NFTs can also be stupid expensive (which makes it feel counter to the everyman anthem of enthusiasts). One of my favorite projects is Gala Games, a play to earn ecosystem powered by NFTs. I’m following a strategy game called Echoes of Empire. It doesn’t actually exist yet. We’re still a long way from even minor testing. My enthusiasm is built on promise. Sound dumb? Get this. I dropped in on the game’s first NFT auction. The cheapest item, of which there were 100 (digital scarcity), was selling for the equivalent of $3,000. They sold out in ten minutes. The most expensive item, of which there were 4, was valued close to $1,000,000. Two of them sold while I was watching. I repeat: the game in which these items function (utility) doesn’t even exist yet!
Let’s be real. Web3 is still an infant. It’s the new wild west. The tech is like a bunch of clunky covered wagons headed into the unknown. Bandits abound. Maybe it’s true. This whole thing could be a giant ponzi scheme. Maybe I’m the one drinking the kool aid here.
My cousin and FDIC account manager agrees. “I don’t like it,” she says. Her reason? The propensity for scams, fraud and ransom. She’s not wrong. But let’s speak truth, criminal behavior and greed gone nuts are rampant within our institutions. There’s a bill floating around to keep members of Congress from insider trading. Will it get passed? Unlikely. A FED executive recently resigned for the same thing. Let’s not forget 2008, when banks wrecked the global economy far worse than any Bitcoin scam. I marched with Occupy Wall Street. Those people had serious grievances. I mean c’mon. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to grasp the villainous stigma attached to bankers.
I’m a believer in the altruistic vision of Web3, but it is massively capitalistic and rife with avarice. Just like Capitalism, it doesn’t give a damn about your idealism, dreams or feelings. It feeds on profit and is a bit like that sociopathic surgeon with the shockingly awful bedside manner. The good news? Emotions aren’t a part of Dr. Insensitive’s DNA, and therefore he might be the best at objectively fixing problems that most humans get all twisted up about. That's partly why Capitalism is the best economic system we’ve come up with. It doesn’t care about your altruistic, misguided whims, my little snowflake.
I’m not some heartless capitalist, but we’re not ready as a human race to evolve beyond it. Sure, I despise much of what is enabled by corporate culture, but if you’re gonna tell me we’re ready for a legit shared economy, you’re high on Cloud Nine.
Puff puff give. My turn. Web3 might actually provide trillions in wealth that isn’t connected to disastrous practices inherent in the desperation of late-stage Capitalism like flooding consumers with disastrous junk for the sake of increased quarterly profits and propping up passé industries, brainwashing us with product propaganda like “milk does the body good.” Sorry not sorry, dairy industry. No. I don’t got milk. But I’ve got loads of proverbial kool aid! Drink up, Buzzed Lightyear. We’re going to infinity and beyond.
Back on the rocketship, major tech companies like Microsoft, Apple and Meta (formerly known as Facebook) are investing heavily in AR and VR, a clear sign that you better be ready, Player One. Love it or hate it, it’s happening. The king of my crypto crew says that we are experiencing the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. A favorite of crypto influencers, Tascha, has an interesting way of putting it:
But wealth is not a set number like the gold in Fort Knox. Global shipping networks in the Age of Discovery and mechanical engineering in the Industrial Revolution showed that prosperity can expand and multiply. It’s not just about transferring wealth, but creating new wealth. This could be our revolution. We are literally building new worlds in the metaverse. All the digital assets that populate it are a brand new commodity. Art, music, movies, land, spaceships, avatars, on and on, all available in online marketplaces via NFT technology.
The web as it stands today, where the Googles and Facebooks run the show, has turned you into a product. They farm your behavior and sell it to marketers for a tremendous profit. Do you see any of that? No. Can you imagine a world where everyone could earn a little extra income by leveraging their data? It’s within the scope of possibility.
And it gets better. An essential credo of crypto is “decentralization.” That plays out in the actual infrastructural building blocks. There’s no boss of Bitcoin. It’s controlled by the users. There’s a human component to this decentralization, as well. Maybe it’s an idealistic notion, but this doesn’t distract from the truth: Web3 wealth is only limited by access to the internet. The Digital Revolution has the capacity to lift poor countries and communities out of poverty like nothing we’ve ever experienced. For all you armchair socialists out there, we’re looking at the greatest redistribution of wealth humans have ever seen. Notice the strike through.
Capitalist and Socialist forces are working in tandem. Gala Games is clearly in the business of making money, but the infrastructure is owned by its community. The real battleground is Democracy vs Authoritarianism. Is there anything more disruptive to an authoritarian than decentralization? It seems to me the multi trillion dollar digital expansion is ripe for those who actually believe in power to the people, freedom of information, and the right to choose our own paths. Now, if we can just figure out how to avoid siloed metaverses on a choir preaching information loop, that’d be grand. Oy. That’s a different conversation for a different day. And, damn, the kool aid is good!
We’re pioneers, sailors and star chasers in here. We’ve landed on the moon, but, no doubt, there’s a dark side. For all my enthusiasm, a lot of work lies ahead. According to the UN, 37% of the world has never been online and couldn’t log in even if they wanted to. Just getting reliable internet to my campgrounds in Colorado has been tremendously difficult. We have a long way to go. But in all the pandemic darkness, nothing strikes me with more reasonable hope for future prosperity on a global scale.
You might suggest that I’m asking you to do the opposite of what Neo did - plug in, not disconnect. Well, they’re not mutually exclusive. Of all the new tech, augmented reality (AR) is the most titillating. Imagine you’re on a camping trip. You throw on your new AR glasses and suddenly Tinkerbell is sitting on the edge of your fire pit. She says, “Hey there, Peter. Let’s go for a walk,” and leads you into the forest. In this imaginative scenario, you could be in Neverland and Rocky Mountain National Park simultaneously. Cue the Wanderverse music.
The universe generally referred to as crypto is far more than a new form of currency. It’s galaxies more. As an artist, lemme paint one more scenario. 1,000,000 streams on Spotify (or YouTube or whatever) will get you approximately $6,000. However, selling 600 copies of your new release for $10 gets you to the same place. The latter is far more viable and valuable. But nobody buys copies anymore, right? Well, NFTs are changing the conversation. Time to take the power back.
Wanna tumble further down the rabbit hole? Let me be your Morpheus. I wanna play a game. Add one of my NFTs to your digital arsenal. Or if you want something you can touch and feel, buy a personalized copy of one of my books. They’re full of puzzle pieces, and I’ll write you a cryptic letter inside. Or you can try your hand at solving level one: mdy.world. Seek the captain’s quarters. The hunt is on and there will be substantial booty, ye hardies.