The recent boom in new "Non-Fungible Tokens" (

) could date back to 2021, when digital artist, Mike Winkelmann, who goes by Beeple, famously 

 through an auction at Christie's, shocking the world. 

This piece was a collage of  5000 images he arranged over a period of 13 years: 

Everydays: The First 5000 Days. Image: Beeple

Most recently, other news such as Justin Bieber buying a 

Paris Hilton gave away NFT’s in the Jimmy Fallon show

she has been investing in Crypto since 2016

 set its sights for the metaverse and it’s stock went up, 

 is lookin​​g to hire a metaverse director, 

 partnered up with crypto.com and the Instagram CEO (

) teased what the metaverse would entail for content creators. 

Cryptocurrencies, combined with NFT’s on a blockchain in a metaverse (

that for now looks more like a glorified zoom meeting?

) There are so many buzzwords it feels like a ponzi scheme. 

I am going to try to break it down without getting too much into the tech. If you want to open up Pandora’s box on blockchain, there’s infinite information out there. 

 that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend.

” It seems the main focus and added value is transparency in transactions and ownerships - made possible through technology. 

A blockchain is a distributed database that is shared among the nodes of a computer network. As a database, a blockchain stores information electronically in digital format. Blockchains are best known for their crucial role in cryptocurrency systems, such as 

, for maintaining a secure and decentralized record of transactions. The innovation with a blockchain is that 

it guarantees the fidelity and security of a record of data and generates trust without the need for a trusted third party.

So, basically, blockchain allows us to have money that is transparent, secure and not in the hands of a single authority. 

But why are monkey pictures worth millions?

; tradable digital assets. Their authenticity, ownership, history and selling prices are tracked on a blockchain as well. 

record file of who is the owner of the artwork.

. The artwork can be "tokenized" to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold. 

People seem to be betting on the digital future (

). A future where digital assets are more valuable than anything else.

 on Instagram is definitely a thing… Boats, cars, airplanes, watches and the very-famous blue checkmark are all digital assets. With blockchain technology, these digital “flexes” can be verified, and will be if we ever live in the metaverse. 

It can create communities: NFTs run on “

”: again verifying ownership and transactions. An NFT can be the access pass to a dinner, club, event/conference and so on…

NFT’s could change how creators monetize or finance their projects:

Mila Kunis financed her new animated cartoon show, Stoner Cats

, without “gatekeepers such as Netflix” giving her and her community complete control of how the show was made.

who got blackballed by the music industry after allegedly shooting Meg Thee Stallion in the foot

And the possibilities are endless for creators. 

All in all, these technologies are running on a promise. A promise that we will soon be immersed in a digital world that is better or equal to the real world. The metaverse, where assets are digital and can be verified through the blockchain. Where NFT’s can be an entrance to a community, club or a simple “flex”. 

 see the NFT boom as another potential crypto trend that will eventually become irrelevant. Even Beeple himself called it a bubble, but also stated that the technology was solid enough to persevere even after the bubble burst, comparing it to the initial days of the internet. 

Here are the other main critiques surrounding this new industry:

The negative environmental impact should be considered as the vast majority of existing NFT platforms run on the Ethereum blockchain, which increases energy consumption. 

But, Etherum quickly saw the social critique and 

, with upgrades and a vision that some say could make them

There’s also much talk about how most projects are scams and used for money laundering. In general, everything related to 

the next version of the internet for some, based on the potential of blockchain technology

), is theoretical and no one knows what the future entails. 

I’m not a core blockchain developer, but everything related to web3 intrigues me like crazy. All in all, an easy conclusion is that we will probably see the same thing that happened with the dot com crash of the late 90’s. 

What I mean by that is that there are too many shiny/shitty projects that Venture Capitalists have thrown millions at that will ultimately be worth nothing. At some point the bubble will crash (

), but a minority of the projects that hold real value will persevere and might change the way the internet works. 

Will this  technology survive and change society? Is this a bubble? Are these buzzwords only good for rebranding and marketing?

I would love to know your thoughts, you can also contact me through the link in my profile!

NFT’s, Metaverse and Crypto

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