Crypto Curious?

January’s VIDA x SohoWorks Crypto Curious session was a dropin for SohoWorks members discussing blockchain, NFTs, Crypto and all things Web3. The five main takeaways were:

  1. Web3 holds huge promise for ownership, identity and participation in the creative economy, but it isn’t a utopian alternative to the current iteration of the web. Better to think of it as ‘protopian’ - the “idea that we’re just trying to progress, to move forward in an incremental, tiny improvements. And that minor improvement every year, when it’s compounded over decades or centuries becomes civilisations.”

  2. Much of the noise about NFTs so far has focused on their value based on scarcity, rarity and uniqueness - digital art and personalised profile pics. But the experimentation that’s happening in more accessible, commercial use cases is where we should perhaps be focusing more.  

  3. Will NFTs and the Web3 ecosystem allow artists to take ownership of their songs & performances plus will it allow them to build closer, more powerful relationships with their fans, in short yes!. However, many in the debate agreed the question is too simple. This utopian world of ownership works for the famous, where does the music label sit in the new ecosystem? For nearly 100 years they have been the curator of music, the marketing & distribution machine that takes raw talent and packages it into superstars. 

  4. We’re already seeing an explosion of (mainly NFT-focused) Web3 platforms, enabling creators to mint, market and monetise their IP. However are consumers ready for this revolution. The early pioneers of the internet got burnt in the Dotcom Crash, it felt like every year from 2003 -2008 was forecast to be the year of mobile - what will be the year NFT’s gain mainstream traction - what will it take? History taught us that a bunch of the players building the mobile ecosystem got wiped out when Apple came into the market with a ‘Jesus’ device that changed the game, ask Nokia.

  5. Everyone agrees that noone has all the answers, but we’ll continue to make sure we’re asking the right questions…so join us for the next session, 22nd Feb - details on the Soho Works app.

Mark Maddox