Are NFT’s a fad or a trend?
Non-fungible tokens or NFT’s (as are more popularly known) have taken the world by storm. NFT’s, as defined by the popular cryptocurrency company Coinbase: “are a special kind of cryptoasset in which each token is unique — as opposed to “fungible” assets like Bitcoin and dollar bills, which are all worth exactly the same amount. Because every NFT is unique, they can be used to authenticate ownership of digital assets like artworks, recordings, and virtual real estate or pets”. Having just read that, the first two questions that pop into my head are: where would NFT’s live or serve a higher purpose than just being stored in a hard drive? and why would I buy one? Well, when we pair them with the “Metaverse” we begin to understand their implications and why they just might take on a colossal new role where the sky is the limit on their applications and most importantly, their price.
It has been a little less than two weeks since Super Bowl LVI took place, and it was coincidentally played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the stadium name sponsor company specializes in Crypto Trading among other things. Whether we admit it or not, the thing everyone else is most interested about the event is the commercials; and this year they were dominated by Crypto and Electric Vehicles or EV’s. One of those ads, “the adorable robot puppy Robo Dog” and the all-electric KIA EV6, have capitalized on their immense popularity and turned Robo Dog into a series of NFT’s.
KIA have partnered with Tezos and Sweet to launch their first NFT’s, which not only have set the Korean based company at the forefront of today’s marketing trends, but most importantly the collaboration has created a bigger meaning for the endeavor; as KIA aims to donate a huge chunk of the revenue to The Petfinder Foundation, who work tirelessly to find new homes for in-need animals like Robo Dog.
I’ve had my fair share of skepticism surrounding NFT’s and the Metaverse, but we can all agree and get behind a noble cause like KIA’s. Now more than ever consumers are rallying behind companies that portray a deeper sense of existing, than merely those governed by the laws of supply and demand. Whether or not NFT’s become a trend, what KIA has done truly solidifies their quest for permanence.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek”. — President Barack Obama.
