All Things NFT ft. Blockchain Manchester
We are just beginning to understand how radically transformative this technology truly is, and I can't wait to be a part of it going forward. My thoughts after an evening of NFT Lighting Talks in MCR.
On Wednesday afternoon I hopped on the train and ventured to Manchester Technology Centre where, surrounded by fellow artists, creators, thinkers, innovators and developers, we banged our heads together in a beautiful rhythm to the beat of the expanding song that is NFT’s.
The evening flew by, and the Lightning Talks were great dips into some of the nuances around certain questions that are at the surface of this smooth and spicy broth we are all transfixed and locked into giving our precious attention.
I had so much in my head after the talk I needed to try and synthesise some thoughts and get down what I tried to take in over the course of the evening, and what follows is the product of that attempt.
I hope I can look back on this in 10 years time and be amazed at the lack of understanding we had over what NFT’s were actually going to grow to become, because it feels like they are on a path of their own, and we’re just here for the ride.
Physical to NFT
A considerable stream of thought throughout the talks was how NFT’s could grow to be integrated into the real world, and how they can enhance objects in the real world with the technology and dynamic frame of authenticity they promise.
Right now, a large majority of the hype and attention surrounding NFT’s, especially the parts of the story that make headlines, are limited to the jpeg’s that are being sold for the price of a small Polynesian island.
But the interest within the community behind those projects quietly brewing at the fringes; those who are thinking 5/10 years ahead, is towards the underlying technology of NFT’s. What are the utility and applications that can be transformative for how we understand the role that NFT’s can play in our lives moving forward?
The physical world: the world of collectibles; the world of paintings; the world of luxury goods. These are like hanging fruit for the world that is to come, built atop of blockchain’s and connected by the digital trace of authenticity that NFT’s at their core are. We were shown a project involving the unaffiliated use of the Bored Ape Yacht Club's jpeg’s and WiV Technology, who “watched as the Bored Ape Yacht Club grew exponentially and realized we needed to find a way to offer these exceptional apes another store of value for their growing assets”. And so they designed this ingenious store of value system, under the title ‘Bored Wine Co.’, combining fine jpegs with fine wine: “This NFT is a digital image backed by real physical wines stored in a bonded warehouse in London, UK.” It seems a fascinating project, and demonstrates how the value inherent in these jpeg’s could be the foundation to whole new systems of alternative wealth creation and storage.
Beyond this example of how an NFT’s value as a jpeg could be enshrined in a physical item on the blockchain, there was the man behind the CryptoKaiju project. His creations were the first physical collectables to be sold with NFC technology built into the collectible itself. This means that the physical object and its’ digital co-breeder, rather than being just a random piece of plastic holding no authentic provenance to a distant NFT, is a key part of the user interaction and value of the collectible itself.
Environmental
Another topic that was brought up was inevitably, and legitimately, the environmental concern inherent in any NFT conversation, like an awkward tumours growth on foot that prevents you from walking gracefully into the sunset. Holly Atkinson, of Boson Protocol, made a good point of stating the dangers of ignoring the disruption that these emerging technologies could potentially cause to the current system - the one that surely has to take 99.9% of the blame as to how we blindly got to where we are environmentally. I agree with her, that it’s dangerous to cave into these easy headlines surrounding gas fees and mining, when really the potential to completely transform how we communicate and interact as global citizens and players, could be transformed, and with that growth comes the decay of the old, which could well be just hat we need. So the value of it’s disruptive potential is something we should always be careful of diminishing for petty short-term woke-driven narratives.
I don’t want the planet to burn, but I do want us to have the best chance of completely transforming how we live and communicate, and in turn help lift the planet out of a lot of its’ issues, through innovation and the empowerment of our collective imagination, which these systems are here to absorb and unleash in so many different forms and colours.
That is how I skipped away from yesterday’s meeting; with one of those rare feelings when you just know that you were in the right place; you were at the centre of right where you needed to be. Not so much for you to be understanding and aware of the meaning in order to describe it. Just to be on the precipice of something unknown and incredibly exciting, surrounded by others who are excited about the same things for their own reasons. That energy is addictive, and it is the sound of minds coming together and thinking about what we can build, what can be made, projects and conversations and new ways of thinking and communicating.
We Are So Early
As it was stated on numerous occasions yesterday: we are so early.
There is a lot to learn and understand, and it seems to shift and morph by the day with side chains and new developments and projects emerging out of the periphery, but at the heart of it is a real desire to transform the way we live; in the physical world and the digital world, and in that sense the possibilities seem unequivocally endless.
It’s just matter of having the conversations, and generating the ideas and then dedicating ourselves to building them to see where t can take us. It is plain to see that there is a hunger to learn about NFT’s and the wider futures that crypto is dangling in front of us, hence the huge turnout yesterday. The community is rich with intellect, curiosity, drive and is proudly open to all to get involved. There is no limits to the part we can play in this space, it’s just a matter of picking it up and not letting go of it, and finding the others in the room who share the energy to do just the same thing.
It is a global project too, rooted in conversation at a local level. That is an exciting and empowering thought. These ideas, these technologies and the activity and communication that is occurring within these networks is completely rootless and free. Of course there is a minimum needed in terms of the initial technology required to get online and to then get into the right spaces, but it’s almost universal.
Scaling
The final topic I want to expand on a little bit is the question of scaling. Gas fees on Ethereum can be uncomfortably high at times, and this could lead to the stagnation of small projects that are priced out of catching the wave of attention that is currently sweeping over the space.
There are a couple of ways that this could be resolved in the coming months/years. Firstly, Ethereum 2.0 is slowly being tested and will soon be released fully, shifting the network from a proof-of-work system to a proof-of-stake one. Without getting into the details, this could alleviate some of the traffic that is sending gas fees through the roof, and would be a great benefit to everyone trying to buy, sell and create.
There are also other blockchains coming into the equation; most obviously Solano, Cardano (which is soon to have smart contract operability) and also systems such as Polygon, which is a L2 solution that I believe will soon grow to absorb a lot of the network activity, especially around NFTs. I recently purchased some of The Visitors via Polygon, but I had to wrap my Ethereum which cost gas to do. However, Coinbase have recently announced they are trying to link directly to Polygon from their exchange, and so that step could be eradicated in the near future, hence my belief that it will soon become a major player in the scene (and why I think The Visitors will blossom into a pretty penny as it’s a very early project on the Polygon network, and just a great project in general).
Conclusion: What next?
As an artist and designer, it feels like there is nothing more important, more authentic and more exciting to be thinking about and aiming to be working amongst in the next few years than NFT’s and crypto projects, which is exactly what I intend to do.
I am partway through a digital skills course, and following completion of that, I hope to attain some work or experience in the blockchain ecosystem, ideally as a UX Designer with wider responsibilities to research and write about what’s evolving in this incredible atmosphere.
I also intend to buy and sell NFT’s and hope to find success in doing so, and just take part in some of the amazing communities that are out there on Discord and Twitter; sharing, creating and supporting each other to create new experiences, innovative projects, and just to live amongst the wild creative expression that this animal is extracting from us as a digital species.
Shout out to the lovely Josephine who pointed me to the pizza and then put up with my excitable chatter and London reminiscences for the evening. I look forward to seeing you again at the next one. Also to Edua who was incredibly interesting to listen to and speak with, and is up to big things behind the scenes at Known Origin, which I am excited to see come to fruition. And to Nima who is making incredible work on the Known Origin platform that you should all take a look at!