Don’t know what an NFT—aka “nonfungible token”—is either? You better find out. Why? Because someone as crazy as me might give you one. Or a better reason: They’re everywhere.
Macy’s auctioned digital floats as NFTs at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Robert Mondavi Winery is selling a limited run of wine in fancy Limoges porcelain bottles tied to NFTs. Reese Witherspoon is crazy about NFTs, especially ones made by women. Snoop Dogg is building a virtual NFT house—and people are spending as much as they would on a real house to “live” next to him.
Underlying this vast and wild assortment of digital tokens is the same idea: People are buying and selling—primarily with cryptocurrency—unique, verifiable, irreplaceable online things.
Again, why? Well, why do people do most things? Money! But that’s not the only reason: Many believe these digital items will be the keys to the internet’s future.
I know. You’re so confused you want to hide under your real bed in your real house, clutching your real teddy bear. I’ve been there. This world of mystical items was baffling to me: Why would I pay for a goofy GIF I can already text to a friend? And why do some of these cost more than a Fabergé egg?
I realized the best way to understand this—and to explain it—was to roll up my sleeves and make an NFT. In other words, I turned my son’s pretty fungible construction-paper-and-googly-eyes unicorn into a nonfungible token of my esteem for my mom. I’m not suggesting you try this at home. But I am encouraging you to read the five steps I took, so you too can make sense of NFT fever.
Continue reading: https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-gave-my-mom-a-crypto-wallet-a-simple-guide-to-nfts-blockchain-and-more-11639404001
Macy’s auctioned digital floats as NFTs at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Robert Mondavi Winery is selling a limited run of wine in fancy Limoges porcelain bottles tied to NFTs. Reese Witherspoon is crazy about NFTs, especially ones made by women. Snoop Dogg is building a virtual NFT house—and people are spending as much as they would on a real house to “live” next to him.
Underlying this vast and wild assortment of digital tokens is the same idea: People are buying and selling—primarily with cryptocurrency—unique, verifiable, irreplaceable online things.
Again, why? Well, why do people do most things? Money! But that’s not the only reason: Many believe these digital items will be the keys to the internet’s future.
I know. You’re so confused you want to hide under your real bed in your real house, clutching your real teddy bear. I’ve been there. This world of mystical items was baffling to me: Why would I pay for a goofy GIF I can already text to a friend? And why do some of these cost more than a Fabergé egg?
I realized the best way to understand this—and to explain it—was to roll up my sleeves and make an NFT. In other words, I turned my son’s pretty fungible construction-paper-and-googly-eyes unicorn into a nonfungible token of my esteem for my mom. I’m not suggesting you try this at home. But I am encouraging you to read the five steps I took, so you too can make sense of NFT fever.
Continue reading: https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-gave-my-mom-a-crypto-wallet-a-simple-guide-to-nfts-blockchain-and-more-11639404001
