NFT Scaries

There has been so much noise recently in the news about failed crypto startups, web3 criminals and of course the monumental FTX crash. The FTX news set off a tidal wave of destruction, taking out startups, VCs and normal people holding crypto assets in one full swoop.

With this kind of destruction, and perhaps rather expectedly, comes fear, stress, panic and of course, skepticism. When feeling these emotions, it becomes extremely difficult, near impossible, to make rational decisions and separate the good from the bad. Anything even remotely crypto-related was labeled as “risky” or “a scam”. But what about those companies and people out there building the future of technology, in a wide range of industries? What about Klasma Labs offering shared home ownership through NFTs? What about the folks at Fan Controlled Football League making football more accessible and giving fans not just a seat to watch, but a seat to determine how the game goes and how their team plays? What about Tixologi, where we’re focused on making ticketing better for everyone, from the event producers to the artists to the fans? None of these groups has anything to do with FTX, other than the fact that they all have some ties to blockchain technology. Yet the fear and skepticism took over.

We need to focus on the real benefits of blockchain technology, as opposed to the buzzwords and attractive opportunities to make a quick buck. Blockchain technology has the power to disrupt – and improve – pretty much every industry in some capacity, from supply chains to home ownership to health records. Like any new technology or industry, there needs to be a period of skepticism, where many players enter the market and not many of them will be there to stay. But we must find a way to better understand this new frontier and educate others in a meaningful way. How can we make judgments on the space and its players if we barely understand it? How can we separate the true value players from those in their grandma’s basement making a series of JPEGs? It’s almost impossible.

I’d like to make a suggestion for us all. Instead of panicking and distancing ourselves as far as possible from anything even slightly related to blockchain, let’s help each other better understand. Let’s share resources, let’s meet up (virtually or IRL) and let’s show instead of tell.

At Tixologi, we strongly believe we can be the first touchpoint with NFTs for most people. We have all held a ticket to an event at least once in our lives. When you buy a ticket through Tixologi, you’re getting an NFT ticket. And why does this matter? For event producers that means understanding who their true fans are and being able to reward them for their loyalty. For artists it means they can finally share in the crazy secondary revenue being generated from their shows. And for fans, it means knowing your ticket is real, having a keepsake of the event that lives forever and accessing new ways to interact with your favorite brands, artists and teams on a deeper level. How could anyone who truly understood these benefits of tickets being blockchain-based not want to raise their hands? It all comes back to understanding. So next time someone mentions NFTs or blockchain, stop for a second before rolling your eyes or changing the topic. Instead ask, “how could this improve my life or make our world just a little bit better?”. Just like not everything on the internet is scary, neither is everything in the crypto space.  When the dust settles and FTX is just an old news story in the scheme of our existence, the true revolutionaries in blockchain will remain.

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