Genesis: The Token Good Newsletter
Your Journey into the World of NFTs and Blockchain Technology
Hi! My name is Julie, and I’ve been working at the bleeding edge of technology since the late 80s. I’ve always had an interest in both art and computers. With the development of NFTs (Non-fungible tokens), I’m over-the-moon excited my two favorite interests have merged into an incredible gestalt!
I’m launching this newsletter in hopes to inform (and maybe entertain) anybody who wants to learn about NFTs and the boundless opportunities in the world of blockchain technology.
Did I hear a scoff from some of you? I’m okay with that. Bleeding edge technology is messy with unexpected twists and turns.
Who could have ever guessed back in the early 90s that a second-hand bookstore in Jeff Bezos’s garage would someday morph into a multibillion dollar company delivering everything under the sun right to your doorstep? If we compare the timeline of blockchain technology to Amazon, right now we’re at approximately at the books-in-the-garage stage.
Everybody I talk to has an opinion about cryptocurrency and NFTs. Some folks believe this technology is burning the world down. If that’s you, don’t worry. I’ll address those concerns in a future newsletter. Some say, “it’s a fad, a bubble!” Others view it as a life transforming technology lifting people out of poverty across the world. Some don’t understand why this technology is so groundbreaking and say, “I can just right-click and download the art, then I own it!” I’ve also talked to folks who are deep into the space and still don’t understand the basic workings behind blockchains and NFTs.
My intent is to create a conversation, break down, and explore the technology that is already transforming the financial world, and I believe will transform your own world in amazing ways. My hope is to use - and encourage others to use - this technology to improve lives around the world, hence the title “The Token Good.”
This newsletter is broken into sections so no matter where you’re at in your tech (and life) journey, you’ll find something of interest.
0. n00bs (tech speak for “newbies”)
So, what is a Non-fungible Token and why should I care?
You might not be aware, but you’re already very familiar with fungible tokens in your everyday life! If you’ve ever used paper currency or coins (money), then you’ve used a fungible token. Every dollar bill has the same value and can be used interchangeably. They can be divided, and you have coins to represent fractional values.
A non-fungible token is special. It is non-divisible and unique. The best analogy I’ve heard to describe an NFT is this: imagine you take your child at daycare in the morning. At the end of the day, you return to pick up your child. You don’t want just any random kid from the daycare! Your child is unique and one of a kind, and is certainly not divisible.
What really makes non-fungible tokens exciting is the ability to own one, verify your ownership, provenance, and be able to sell or transfer it in a way that can be easily and publicly documented.
Baseball cards are real life example of NFTs that have existed for many years. Suppose you have a super rare Babe Ruth card. Part of the challenge in selling this card is being able to prove it’s the real deal. How many times have you seen a collector’s spirits crushed on Antiques Roadshow when the expert reveals grandma’s treasured lamp is not actually a Tiffany?
Because of the nature of blockchain technology, verifying the authenticity of a digital collectible is simple. The owner of the item is recorded on the blockchain, and anybody can look at this digital ledger, and see every transaction and previous owners! Because of blockchain, all of the receipts are public and verifiable.
NBATopShot is an example of a digital NFT collectible licensed sport cards created by Dapper Labs. It is easy to verify the authenticity of a NBATopShot moment as it can be verified because the transaction is recorded on a blockchain.
So trading cards have been recreated as digital collectibles. What else can they do?
The critical piece of an NFT is the ownership it represents. In addition to being useful for collectibles, NFTs can also be used as game items, art, ownership of digital or physical real estate, a finance contract, real world collectibles, club memberships, tickets, badges, and more.
How do I get started in NFTs? Do you have some resources for me?
Yes, of course! Here are a couple of my favorite links with lots of details:
Enjoy your NFT journey! Next newsletter I’ll explain more about setting up your accounts to use cryptocurrency and collect NFTs. I know you’ll have plenty of questions along the way, and I encourage you to ask them. Please send email to tokensforgood@gmail.com, and I’ll answer as many of them as I can and answer the more frequent questions in this newsletter.
1. NFT Headlines and Good Reads
DC Comics is giving away free NFTs of superhero comic book covers featuring Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn. The free drop is set for October 5 and you can register at dcfandome.com. An additional NFT collectible can also be unlocked by sharing on social media. These NFTs are being given away to promote the launch of the DC FanDome and a 4-hour virtual event is set for October 16.
Ripple has announced a $250 million creator fund to build NFTs on the Ripple blockchain.
After the wild success of NBA TopShot, Dapper Labs Inc. has signed a deal to create a similar NFT video moment collection with the National Football League.
Coinbase is planning to publish a regulatory framework suggestion for US regulators. CEO Brian Armstrong says when he’s in Washington, D.C., various government muckety-mucks have asked him for drafts or proposals. While NFTs may seem different from cryptocurrencies, they really aren’t too far apart, and the SEC is noticing the $2.5 billion industry. The SEC has been notoriously quiet about classes of digital assets, and multiple companies (Coinbase among them) in the industry have lamented the lack of guidance from the SEC when asked.
The US House of Representatives passed a bill for the SEC and CFTC to create a working group focused on digital assets. The bill now heads to the Senate.
Rolling Stone: Top 5 Ways NFTs, 3D Avatars and the Metaverse Are Changing Music and Entertainment
Czech Prince Lobkowicz plans to sell NFTs to pay for the restoration of the royal family’s art collection and castle. Believe it or not, it’s fairly common for royals to be poor, and this is a great use of NFTs to provide public benefit through art preservation and restoration.
2. Conversations
Snoop Dogg reveals he’s been collecting NFTs under the Cozomo de’ Medici pseudonym on Twitter. The story about how he became involved in NFTs is wild and unique, and you can read about it in his Twitter thread here.
While 99.9% of us don’t have Snoop Dogg’s budget for NFTs, he makes some great points in his thread about the accessibility of this technology to whomever is interested.
While some NFTs will be considered valuable and will continue to hold value, one evergreen piece of advice about buying art NFTs is to buy art that you like, not art you think might be valuable. Another great piece of advice is to consider any money you spend for NFTs to be part of your entertainment budget.
I believe Snoop Dogg is correct in saying NFTs will continue to explode because of the versatility of the underlying smart contract technology. Because of this versatility, NFTs offer much more than just being a “useless JPEG.” In fact, they’re not JPEGs at all.
The fundamental idea to understand about an NFT is it is NOT the item itself. An NFT is a transaction on the blockchain that proves ownership of the rights included in the contract.
So yeah, you can go ahead and right click and save the art, but that does not give you the benefits granted to you by the smart contract.
We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface as to what kinds of features and how much power the smart contract affords an NFT. Because of the public nature of blockchain, developers can create NFTs that interact with other NFT contracts!
Several generative PFP (Profile Picture) projects grant owners of their NFTs access to owner’s only clubs, events, and the option to iterate, upgrade, or generate new NFTs based on the ones owned. Some NFT projects also do special crossover NFTs with other popular projects.
If you’re interested in more about how smart contracts work with generative NFTs, there is a wonderful free tutorial that gives step by step instructions to create your own Crypto Zombies NFT contract, including accessing attributes from the CryptoKitties contract to use with your zombies.
A fun personal anecdote: Snoop Dogg once held my iguana in a movie, so of course he’s cool.
3. Project Spotlight
For this Genesis newsletter, I’m highlighting a project I really love. It embodies a purpose I hope many NFT creators will embrace: creating NFTs to promote social change. It’s also an amazing story about community and parenting.
During his kids’ summer break, Derek Hanson, decided to teach them about Ethereum and NFTs. His sons who are 7 and 10 years old, decided they wanted to create their own NFT project based on one of their favorite foods, chicken nuggets.
Not only an amazing dad, Derek also happens to be a pediatric oncologist. While researching NFTs and how to create them, it occurred to the Hansons their humble chicken nuggets could benefit families affected by pediatric cancer and fund research. The Nerdy Nuggets team was created, and includes a community manager whose son is currently being treated for a brain tumor.
The boys got to work drawing all of the art and attributes for their generative chicken nuggets, and the team was able to launch in time for Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, which is September.
You can read more about this story here, and if you’d like to mint a nugget, you can visit their website.
4. Q&A Time
Do you have a question about NFTs or blockchain technology? Email tokensforgood@gmail.com. I will tailor information in future newsletters based on subjects and questions received, so ask away!
One last little bit of self-promotion: I recently have given webinars about NFTs geared towards graphics artists for both the Graphic Artists Guild and National Cartoonists Society.
The second webinar for the Graphic Artists Guild also features New York IP attorney Jonathan Sirota walking through some best practices when it comes to IP law and NFTs.
These webinars are free for GAG members.
That’s it for this Genesis edition of The Token Good Newsletter! Please share this newsletter with your friends and also let me know what you liked, didn’t like, and what you’d like to hear more about.