I need to write about NFTs because I keep getting asked about them in client meetings and my position has gotten more nuanced over the past few months. Initially: this is a scam. Currently: this is mostly a scam but there are two or three genuinely interesting brand applications buried in the noise.
Currently: this is mostly a scam but there are two or three genuinely interesting brand applications buried in the noise.
The cringe: brands minting JPEGs of their products and calling it 'entering web3.' A fast-food chain selling digital art of their chicken sandwich. A fashion brand auctioning a 3D model of a handbag. These aren't innovations. They're cash grabs from brands that don't understand the technology or the culture and are chasing a trend because someone at a conference told them to.
Lululemon's ambassador program doesn't pay athletes millions. It empowers local fitness instructors. The brand is built from the yoga studio floor up, not the broadcast booth down.
The interesting: brands using NFTs as access tokens for genuine community benefits: exclusive events, early product access, voting rights on brand decisions. Using the technology to solve an actual problem (proving ownership, creating scarcity with utility, building trackable loyalty) rather than just 'making something digital that we sell for ETH.'
My framework for clients: if you remove the 'NFT' from your project and it still makes sense as a loyalty program or community benefit, the underlying idea is sound. If removing the NFT makes the project meaningless, you're using technology as a substitute for strategy.
I give this entire space eighteen months before the hype cycle completes. The useful applications will persist. Everything else will be very expensive digital art that nobody can sell.