Digital Native | Rex Woodbury | Substack

NFTs are interesting in that they have built-in provable scarcity that ensures value. In the analog world, scarcity is something either circumstantial (the virus that wiped out tulip production) or mandated (Beanie Babies being “retired”). With NFTs, it’s in the code. CryptoPunks are valuable, for instance, because there will only ever be 10,000.

More NFTs will unlock certain perks or privileges, making them not a fad but a long-term asset that both delivers and accrues value. The holy grail will be shifting the $150 billion virtual goods market—largely comprised of microtransactions in Robux (Roblox), V-Bucks (Fortnite), and Minecoins (Minecraft)—onto blockchain so that digital assets you ... See more

But more important than nostalgia are the emergent platforms that facilitate new forms of commerce. New marketplaces provide liquidity. Whatnot, a livestream commerce marketplace, has emerged as the go-to place to buy and sell collectibles online—and its focus on collectibles has actually propelled it past horizontal livestream marketplaces like Po... See more

What’s key about the NFTs that retain value over time is that they will serve a purpose. And many do serve a purpose—many have more utility than Beanie Babies or tulips ever did. “Purpose” and “utility” can be broadly defined. CryptoPunks, Meebits, and Bored Apes, for instance, can serve as your Twitter avatar and confer upon you status

What’s unique about NFTs is that you can make an economic decision (invest / own an asset) while also purchasing status, belonging to a community, accessing a perk. I

In the past, buying and selling collectibles was full of friction. Now, there are vibrant, liquid marketplaces like Whatnot that make it easy to own these goods. More people can be an investor by making a smart bet on something they think will go up in value.

But what’s unique about NFTs—and where they differ from tulips and Beanie Babies—is that NFTs are a type of cryptographic token. NFTs use blockchain technology to denote digital ownership—of anything. NFTs aren’t a fad themselves; they may power a fad, but they aren’t the fad. They’re more akin to the technology behind Beanie Babies (the manufactur... See more