Prakhar and Kirill: Blockchain, Crypto, and NFTs will become the architecture of our lives.
Meet Prakhar and Kirill. Prakhar Mehrotra is the Director of the Creative Tech team at Accenture Interactive, Netherlands.
And Kirill Noskov is a Creative Technology Intern within Prakhar’s team.
Prakhar: How did I get into crypto? Back in 2015, one of my friends was very passionate about Blockchain which made me understand how everything works, and I ended up buying some crypto. As a Creative Technologist today, my job is to stay on top of tech trends and look for creative applications.
To me, it’s about understanding why cryptocurrencies are being developed and how we can integrate them in client projects, demos, and showcases to teach others.
Kirill: My journey with cryptos started around 2015 when I bought some Ethereum which I sold shortly after. At the time I thought cryptocurrencies were just a money investment. My interest sparked again a couple of years back when I saw a piece of art being sold as an NFT. The idea of this new technology going beyond money and into smart contracts was fascinating to me. If you think about contracts, and I’m not necessarily talking about business contracts but any contract we have in society, there are so many applications, so many interpretations, and a lot of potential!
The crypto community is very welcoming and very fun and I’ve been building applications with people, participating in hackathons and currently I am building four products with crypto.
Tell us, why is there so much excitement about the Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and NFT’s?
Prakhar: People are trying to solve a problem that became very obvious when the financial crisis happened in 2008. How can we create a system that is not built on trust? That’s when Blockchain technology came into play and applications such as cryptos and NFTs were developed. Like with any other technology before, we are at a place where we are trying to understand where these applications make sense and how they can be implemented e.g. the Metaverse.
For me personally it’s exciting because they have the potential to change our society and in the broader context our lives; Crypto and the Metaverse are about giving people a lot more choices than they ever had, and removing the choices that were forced upon them when they were born.
Think about this: We are born with a certain appearance, gender, and even into a certain species. But the Metaverse allows us a space where the interaction between people can take any form, any visual form, any experiential form. And once you open up that choice, you are not restrained by the choices you were born with.
The more you can modify the interaction between physical and digital, the more choices people have.
The same goes for cryptocurrencies, but rather than choice over experiential things, it’s about the systems that govern us. We are born into the systems and laws of a country. Cryptocurrencies allow us to create new systems that don’t rely on trusting individuals and authorities. With smart contracts, the rules are already in place which allows people to create their own societies and organizations, where we can redefine how we want to interact with people.
Now we can scale them up with the Blockchain because we have removed the need to trust people and the trust is inherited in the system itself.
The creation of these small communities has always been present in our history, but the difference is that now we can scale them up with the Blockchain because we have removed the need to trust people and the trust is inherited in the system itself.
Kirill: NFTs are essentially about communities, culture, and fashion, and that’s why people are interested in them. We can signal our identity through art in NFTs while it promotes closer connections between the artist and the audience. This is very exciting for me!
Why now? I think people are tired of traditional platforms that use our data to become very powerful. It’s hard to find a straight answer to the questions about who owns our data. The platforms and their user’s incentives are misaligned, and this is when usually things go wrong.
There is a movement pushing for people to own their data, and with Crypto, we get to build the infrastructure that promotes the right incentives around the principle that people are the owners of their own data.
Another exciting point is the abundance of choices on the internet. While there is scarcity in the real world and it’s used to increase the value of products, in the Metaverse this principle of scarcity is not built into the system.
There is less room for manipulation, and NFTs due to being non-fungible is a unique and perfect example of this trend: Large communities with aligned values build new systems that promote abundance.
How do you see these technologies being used 10 years from now?
Kirill: All predictions are speculations and therefore, most likely, wrong. But if we look at technology in stages: In the first stage, technology creates something better than what we already have and in the second stage, it creates something we couldn’t have ever imagined.
We are probably seeing the development of the first stage, improving what we already have. But this stage will lead to new and exciting applications in the future.
This technology; Blockchain, Crypto, and NFTs will probably move to the background and they will go unnoticed. Just like the internet has done.
We chat, we tweet, we buy, we bid, we book, but we don’t talk about the internet anymore. They will become part of the architecture of our lives.
The new generation will never have to know what these are, just like the youngest generation doesn’t know what www, or HTTPS stands for.
How will NFTs impact intellectual property?
Prakhar: The creator will be compensated every time the work gets sold. That’s a big change from the systems we know today. Because NFTs keep track of every single transaction, from the creation of the song or the art or the book, the creator will always be able to know who has made money from it.
The beautiful part of this is that the blockchain rules apply to everyone, not just the rich or the privileged or the powerful.
How can these technologies create value for people and our clients?
Prakhar: Here at Accenture Interactive we really talk about brands focusing on their purpose; what do they stand for. This will be a crucial part for brands to focus on when moving into new spaces like the Metaverse and NFTs.
Translating the physical products of our clients into the digital world is not necessarily the best strategy. You need to look at the purpose of the brand and then create a strategy that delivers its purpose specifically for and within the Metaverse.
Kirill: There is also a chance for new brands to develop. I don’t think all brands can be translated to the virtual world of the Metaverse and NFTs.
Instead of rushing to adopt the technology, think about creating decentralized brands that can thrive in these new worlds with new systems.
“Headless” brands are owned by the community, using open systems. Give away the brand to the community and let it grow by itself!
It’s easy to consider these technologies too complex and difficult to implement in the work we do with our clients. But we shouldn’t underestimate these technologies. History has shown that we humans have been able to make sense, use and embed complex technologies in our lives if they add value.
And these technologies can fundamentally change the way we function and think about modern society. That’s what these technologies inspire people to do. And it is fascinating to be part of this movement.
