New Series + The Key
Welcome to a new series called “Chris Dixon Explained.” Looking back, I noticed several of these newsletters emerged from an interesting comment he made. I’ve enjoyed these, so here’s another from his Tim Ferriss interview:
NFTs are like webpages. Because a webpage is programmable, a webpage can do anything, it’s Turing-complete. It can run any piece of code. We have these essentially Turing-complete programmable objects that are now suddenly scarce that you can own and that you can transfer.
So NFTs are as broadly applicable as webpages? I’m skeptical of such broad comments. After circles of thoughts, however, I’ve pinned down why I agree with him:
Proof of ownership is the key.
Let me explain.
Many things in the world are locked until you prove ownership of something. Want to check your email? Prove it’s you by logging in with your password. Want to get through airport security? Show your ID card. Want to buy something online? Enter your payment information.
Similarly, proof of ownership unlocks things in web3. In this new world, you prove ownership through blockchain addresses instead of different passwords, IDs, and bank accounts. Your address can hold things like money (e.g. cryptocurrency), unique identifiers (e.g. naming services), and access tokens (e.g. NFTs).
An application can verify you’re the owner of an address when you connect your wallet that holds the address’s corresponding private key. After that, the extent of possibilities is similar to those of any website.
Here’s a few interesting examples today:
Watch Stonercats – an animated series from Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher – by owning a Stonercats NFT
Access TopShot superfan Discord group NLL by owning a set of 30 TopShots
Print verified physical NFTs through Infinite Objects
Listen to Kings of Leon album by redeeming NFT
Earn royalties on Nas latest song by owning his token on Royal
Earn right to purchase golf club membership at LinksDAO
… and this is just the beginning. The possibilities are only bounded by human creativity.
The key is proof of ownership.
Proof of ownership is the key.