One of the most exciting dynamics of blockchain is the prerogative for continuous learning, and the uncovering of the transformative power of seemingly simple ideas.
Take crypto collectibles.
To the extent that most people have considered them, it is in the context of some news story about how crazy people were spending tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars for virtual kittens towards the end of last year. For the skeptic, it could easily be confirmation of the lunacy at the heart of the crypto movement. Even for those generally interested in the disruptive power of decentralization, one could be forgiven for thinking something along the lines of… “$114,481.59 for a friggin digital cat?”
What happens then, however, is the prerogative for continuous learning kicks in. Having gone down the rabbit hole of blockchain, my brain is quickly retraining itself to ask questions on the assumption of something deeper, rather than rest on skepticism.
In this case, that sort of inquiry leads to a learning path.
It turns out, Cryptokitties aren’t just some random digital game, but the first large scale experiment of a non-fungible crypto asset – in other words, a type of token where each token isn’t by definition the same. If we understand that all of the tokens that we exchange today are an approximation of some aspect of money, these sort of tokens are actually a fundamentally different type of digital asset, with different characteristics of rarity and uniqueness. In that light, Cryptokitties is a demonstration that digital assets beyond money can be exchanged in a frictionless way across geographies.
And hey, it turns out, there is actually a different token standard underneath – in this case the ERC-721 – designed specifically to allow smart contracts that act as tradable, non-fungible tokens. And by the way, that token standard is comfortably less than a year old.
And you know what, a whole lot of actually smart people are thinking about and exploring the implications of digital collectibles, and they’re not all thinking about it the same way. Some are looking at what feels like the obvious and important opportunity around digital gaming and virtual goods – allowing people to actually own the items that make up the experience of their games. Others are seeing the properties of uniqueness as a way to create new markets around digital art, creating a new form of exclusivity and ownership.
The point is that this space is so new and so dynamic that the only rational choice when confronted with an idea that doesn’t make immediate sense is to assume something interesting and ask question. The only rational choice is embrace the prerogative for continuous learning.
Note: The image above is the “Forever Rose” – a crypto art project that raised $1M for charity in February. Learn more.
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