Believe In the Blockchain: NFT’s and Our Future
Over the past 72 hours, I’ve watched NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) become one of the most talked-about topics on social media, make a couple of my friends pretty rich, and reshape the future of how we will transact information into the foreseeable future. Now here’s my disclaimer for this article, we’re going to bounce around quite a bit. I’m going to talk about my first experience buying an NFT and learning about the scam that unraveled with it — that I sort of predicted. We’re going to talk about different resources and information that will be helpful for anyone hoping to break into the NFT space. I’ll mention friends I know who are advocates in the space and people I’ve discovered online who are solid resources for learning. I’ll also cover what I think the future of blockchain will be for everyday people.
One of the most important things about emerging technologies is being able to present clear and present value for people to create demand. We can thank Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and the recent fame surrounding ON1Force and Cool Cats NFT for the social hype and growing demand in the NFT space. These projects represent the beginning of a tech revolution powered by the blockchain and spearheaded by digital artwork. For anyone looking to get smart on the NFT space, I recommend the NFT Bible by Opensea.io. This is the best resource I’ve received from friends thus far: https://opensea.io/blog/guides/non-fungible-tokens/
The Trippy Ape Yacht Club $350K ETH Getaway
While the news and headlines point to big profits for early adopters with NFT’s, we rarely hear about the many wallets full of digital artwork that do not hold any intrinsic value. Thanks to Trippy Ape Yacht Club (TAYC), I was able to get a taste of what many may be experiencing but simply not talking about — the often high risk, no reward perspective of NFT’s if you’re not connected to the communities and networks fueling projects. TAYC prepared a very enticing NFT launch last week that came with a unique plot twist — they cashed in on $350K worth of ETH and are now ghosts. Twitter account deactivated, discord deleted, and a lot of broken hearts. Well, one person survived happily as the owner of a Trippy Ape of their own — me!
Imagine this, you’re friends with one of the rising voices in NFT culture Julian Gilliam aka Logik and he’s giving you the game on the space. You’re ready to buy your first NFT. You download Opensea.io, set up your MetaMask wallet, transfer a bit of your ETH from Coinbase and you’re set. Unfortunately, I’m a very spontaneous person when it comes to art. I love it, and ALL OF IT. After downloading Nifty's app to track upcoming NFT drops, I was searching high and low for something new and cool to only stumble upon the infamous, Trippy Ape Yacht Club (TAYC). At this point in my journey, I’m well aware of Bored Ape Yacht Club and its impact on the space, but I’m not aware of what derivatives are. For clarity and in its simplest form, derivatives are copies of an original NFT series. There are tons out there so be sure to know the difference in the original and a derivative. In the case of TAYC, these guys were very clear about their approach. TAYC was a derivative of BAYC and not in anyway connected to the group, but they were offering a chance to win a numbered Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for one lucky owner of the TAYC deriatives launch. If you’ve been able to track along thus far, you’re well aware of the hype and value or BAYC work, and would understand why just about anyone in their right mind would take a chance spending 0.042ETH in hopes of winning a piece of work with a price floor of $90K USD.
This instantly got my attention because I’ve noticed a lot of the emerging NFT brands taking the same approach, but I was also intrigued by the idea of derivatives becoming popular in the art world. It’s definitely a bootleg, but it’s almost a cool way of paying homage to the apes. With the floor at .042 ETH (about $133), I was down to purchase my first NFT. I had gained the money from prior investments so I didn’t see it as a loss, and I also was not convinced that my first NFT purchase to be the life-changing work of art that I sell to pay off my student loans. This was my first step into the future and I was content with it. But I felt this was a setup. I’m not really the click-bait type — I research A LOT. Maybe too much at times. And these guys had a pretty simple set-up that felt beginner-like in the NFT space which I didnt’ mind. The one red flag I noticed was that one of their main links on the Trippy Ape Yahct Club website connected back to the source of who these guys were. High Club NFT. Now, I’d never heard of them and TAYC mentions nothing about these guys. I knew it was a mistake, but it added a level of intrigue for me surrounding the project.
Personally from one toker to another, I’ll pass on the NFT weed art. But as a strategist who overthinks things for a living, this was actually pretty cool. Trippy Apes Yacht Club grew on me fast and I wanted to support it. Maybe High Times NFT was just their stepping stone. I’d never buy that, but I could totally see myself as a Trippy Ape. I felt like maybe these guys had found their lane. I was happy to be apart of the next group of early adopters joining the NFT craze, and hell maybe these guys could really catch on someday. I was all in, and I really like my Trippy Ape, I may even be proud of it. But, I feel sorry for the people whose experience was much different than mine. The Trippy Ape Yacht Club collection featured 6,969 unique apes and like most NFT launches, including a project roadmap that appeared to be solid for a lesser-known project.
What’s most interesting about my TAYC experience is that I own Trippy Ape #2530. A cool punk zombie type rocking a BAYC tee. But these guys only sold 2,533 trippy apes. I refreshed the browser for about 4 hours before the next purchase came in. Over the next two days as the scam began to unfold in the discord chat and on Twitter, those final 3 purchases were poor souls scrolling the discord and asking questions about the drop, only to receive angry responses from others who had been taken advantage of. You even had people in the discord who were upset that they’d bought in, so they were encouraging others to buy more trippy apes to raise the floor price for current owners who’d been misled by the project. Imagine owning 25–50 of these guys and the project disappears. It’s a tough joint to toke for sure.
I’ll be sure to take my lessons from the Trippy Apes and have a few takeaways for others to consider as you get knee-deep into the world of crypto art and NFT’s:
- Watch out for fake discord admins, those guys who’re overly geeked about the project but have NOTHING to do with it. Go to their profiles, click the links to their pages, go-to websites, you can’t leave any stone unturned in this space.
- I’m a fan of supporting upcoming projects or even just the projects with art that you like. It’s inevitable to see the investment opportunity in NFT’s, but that’s the quickest way to find yourself in Trippy Ape land. Make sure you’re verifying who the sellers and owners are on platforms like Opensea. The recent Mike Tyson NFT drop was immediately bootlegged by another page on OpenSea, but at purchase, there were prompts to remind you to verify ownership and where you are purchasing from. This won’t always be the case so you have to do the research.
- Follow people in the space who are leading the charge with helping new projects get exposure, and most times these are people who have projects of their own. A good mix of Twitter, Discord, and ClubHouse can keep you in the loop on the space, and I’d recommend following people like @JullianGilliam, Nifty's, @foodmasku, @JRArtSpace.eth, @beeple, and @pranksyNFT to name a few.
A Wallet For All Things
Despite the growing craze around NFT’s, I’m most intrigued by the underlying technological power source. The Blockchain. Now I don’t know much about mining and the specifics just yet so we won’t go there, but I want to share my understanding of the Blockchain and where I see it heading into the foreseeable future. As cryptocurrency and NFT’s continue to bubble in culture, the idea of owning a wallet that secures your digital assets is something to truly think about. Blockchain technology protects each and every transaction through its encryption, and the unique wallets allow people anywhere in the world to exchange tokens, eliminating the need for banking systems and fees that hurt everyday people. But that’s just the tip of the sphere.
I was talking with my Dad recently about NFT’s Blockchain and I asked him a question, “Dad, what if you had a wallet that stores all of your personal information that only you could access? Like, if the State of Illinois created their own crypto wallet that houses your driver’s license, property deeds, car titles, etc. Anything associated with your profile as a resident or citizen of a place.” For the first time, I think it all began to make sense for him. It’s not just about the digital art craze, it’s about the evolution of how we communicate, connect, and make transactions with one another. As telehealthcare grows in the wake of a pandemic and we are becoming more inclined to limit physical touch, we’re moving into a world where the balance between physical and virtual will becoming more intertwined than ever. Imagine checking out at a retail counter and having to show your I.D. store inside your crypto wallet, which also houses your car keys, artwork, token investments, etc. We may not be there yet, but it’s starting to click for me in a pretty crazy way as well.
I hope to continue sharing more with you about my NFT journey, in addition to my thoughts on the world of advertising, art, and streetwear. I’m planning to launch a collection of NFT’s myself themed around my clothing brand Life Waits for No Man™, and I know once I’m set up it’s not going to be as exquisite as Space Poggers or Canine Cartel, but it’ll exist and hopefully, people will enjoy it.
Please be sure to share, post, and comment on this article, and reach out with any questions to me directly here: johnnie@johnniefresh.com.
Johnnie Fresh, LLC. / A brand strategy, insights, and ideas company. / JohnnieFresh.com
