In 2018, I discovered a little website called Steemit. It wasn’t attractive, but it promised I could earn cryptocurrencies for publishing my content. I was skeptical. Nevertheless, I joined.
I was new to crypto at the time. I got into it because a client of mine for whom I was editing an online publication wanted to start another publication focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency news. He asked me if I wanted to be its editor. I agreed. That had me reporting on cryptocurrency projects every day and I discovered Steemit through that project.
When I joined Steemit, the price of STEEM was over $3. I quickly amassed a large following and took an interest in a brand new game called Steem Monsters, which has since been rebranded Splinterlands.
I responded to a call to write fiction based on the monster characters in Splinterlands and won some of those contests. Later, I responded to a call to assist in writing the lore for the game. Through both of those efforts, I managed to acquire quite a few monster cards. Each card had a unique numerical identifier, which put them in the category of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Fast forward to today and I’ve been writing to several other cryptosocial websites including a new upstart on the EOS blockchain called Voice. Recently, the Voice community Cryptowriter airdropped me an NFT. It looks like this:
Some people are saying NFTs are a passing phase, but I’m not so sure.
Meet My First Minted NFT
Cryptosocial platform Cent has launched a new service called #Valuables. The service allows anyone to create NFTs from their tweets. What the heck? I decided I’d give it a try. Here’s my very first minted NFT.
This tweet is for sale at Cent #Valuables.
Are NFTs the Future of Tokens?
I think there will always be room for fungible tokens. Those are tokens that are interchangeable. For instance, if you have one Dai, you can trade it for another Dai and all you have is one Dai. They are exactly the same. Non-fungible tokens are completely different. Each one is distinctive and if you have one you can’t trade it for another and have equal value because, by definition, they are not interchangeable.
While there will always be room for fungible tokens, I do believe non-fungible tokens will be a thing of the future. This is a unique opportunity for creators to create more value for work of the past while also creating new and valuable pieces of work for the future.
In that regard, I have some ideas of my own for minting NFTs. These include:
Minting past and future tweets
Minting book covers of some of the books I’ve published
Taking poems I’ve written in the past, published and non-published, and pairing them up with public domain images
Partnering with visual artists to create memes as NFTs
Writing new works of literature, fiction and poetry, and minting them as NFTs
Taking original photos of landscapes and minting them
The possibilities are endless. I’m sure other creators have their own ideas for NFTs.
What are you thinking? Are NFTs the future, or is this a passing fad?
Allen Taylor is a veteran award-winning journalist and former newspaper editor. He is a freelance writer focused on fintech, including blockchain and crypto projects, and manages crypto blogs through CryptoBloggers. Let’s connect on Twitter. He is currently writing a book about where crypto intersects with social media.