Web3 and NFTs
a primer for n00bs
Part 1: What is Web3
Remember those primarily text-based websites with scrolling rainbow texts of the 90s? That’s web1—the good old basic internet with html text and gifs. Web1 was a read-only transfer of information from the one who published on the website to you. Web2 is where we have been the last 15 or so years. It is the app ecosystem; it’s interaction through comments and reactions; it is the creator economy held by Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and all those content publishing websites. If they go down, your data and content goes down. Web3 is the upcoming internet that is based around ownership of digital assets and data, and fungible and non-fungible tokens. It’s also a decentralized economy where creators hold the access to all their data and content. Web2 uses centralized payment processors like PayPal and such. To participate in web3 economy you need cryptocurrency. I'll walk you through how to buy crypto, setup a crypto wallet, and use it in web3 marketplaces.
Before we do that, let's talk about digital assets and non-fungible tokens (NFT) and how the new internet will be moving towards this new model.
Here's how someone explained to me non-fungible tokens and the concept of digital asset ownership: Your car has a title. It's a document, of which only one exists, that verifies two things: what the property is and the ownership status of said property. In web3, rather than this title being a unique piece of paper, it is a token. More specifically, it is a non-fungible token meaning there is only one of it and it is interchangeable with only one other thing, that one other thing being a jpg or a gif or an audio file or an html file or a pdf document, another token... any digital asset. Just like the car and its title.
This is important as many things have been bought, sold, traded, shared, and stolen on web1 and web2. Web3 and NFTs aim to make ownership clear. With ownership comes value and anyone can generate value from their digital goods, and even digital footprint. As a result, anyone can generate wealth. Current chatter in new web3 communities is exactly about the power of independent wealth generation that has befallen many who would otherwise have never had access to it.
Here's one example of how it could benefit me and other visual creators: I can sell original and editioned digital art. Previously, any of my jpgs or mp4s could be copied and shared. But now, only those who have the NFT to my work can claim to have the original one. This expands my art portfolio from only print, to print and digital. For creators who only work in digital, NFTs allow them to create tangible value.
Maybe this doesn't matter to you now, but think of it this way: In the future, web3 platforms may not allow you to share or display a jpg that you do not legally own (you do not own the NFT for that jpg). Overtime, these small scale piracies that appear to be nothing now, will lock out those who pirate, but on the flip side for those who are more honest and generous, it creates a micro economy of wealth sharing and exchange with the creators of the content.
Right now you may be thinking WTF I have to buy a meme before I can post it? Think back to the original poster who shared the initial post. They have to prove provenance before posting. So worries of bad actors posting misinformation and lies? It goes away if we can trace back to exactly who made the first post that is being shared. It may not even be shared once provenance proves it is a bot or a foreign agent or someone completely off the charts.
Now let's take this a step further to understand the possibilities of web3 a decade from now: Buying and selling jpgs is just the lowest entry point to a greater digital ecosystem to come. Did you ever imagine in the 90s or even the aughts that you will need an app, a profile, 2-factor authentication (2FA), and a digital payment method just to hail a cab? Something you could simply do by raising your hand on the side of the street is now impossible. This is web2 and you have gradually been ushered into it. It started when you got an email address and then had to use it to make a profile on websites. It started when you bought your first smart phone and the telephone became an application you selected by clicking on an icon. Participation in Web3 will require you to prove who you are, not with an email address but with an identity verified on the blockchain—your wallet which is completely controlled by you, not Google nor Facebook. Before you know it, the digital payment you use online isn't ApplePay tied to your credit card tied to a traditional bank but a decentralized token.
Technology is part of the fabric of society. We have no choice but to adopt it and advance with it. So right now you may not have fear of missing out (FOMO) on some ape jpgs, but you will be blocked from future participation in society and future wealth generation.
I touched on a few key concepts of web3 that have not been realized to the fullest potential in web2:
1. Ownership
2. Provenance
3. Security
4. Wealth
Over the coming weeks, I'll write about examples for different industries like publication and film and expand on more web3 concepts like self-sovereignty.
Before we do that, let's talk about digital assets and non-fungible tokens (NFT) and how the new internet will be moving towards this new model.
Here's how someone explained to me non-fungible tokens and the concept of digital asset ownership: Your car has a title. It's a document, of which only one exists, that verifies two things: what the property is and the ownership status of said property. In web3, rather than this title being a unique piece of paper, it is a token. More specifically, it is a non-fungible token meaning there is only one of it and it is interchangeable with only one other thing, that one other thing being a jpg or a gif or an audio file or an html file or a pdf document, another token... any digital asset. Just like the car and its title.
This is important as many things have been bought, sold, traded, shared, and stolen on web1 and web2. Web3 and NFTs aim to make ownership clear. With ownership comes value and anyone can generate value from their digital goods, and even digital footprint. As a result, anyone can generate wealth. Current chatter in new web3 communities is exactly about the power of independent wealth generation that has befallen many who would otherwise have never had access to it.
Here's one example of how it could benefit me and other visual creators: I can sell original and editioned digital art. Previously, any of my jpgs or mp4s could be copied and shared. But now, only those who have the NFT to my work can claim to have the original one. This expands my art portfolio from only print, to print and digital. For creators who only work in digital, NFTs allow them to create tangible value.
Maybe this doesn't matter to you now, but think of it this way: In the future, web3 platforms may not allow you to share or display a jpg that you do not legally own (you do not own the NFT for that jpg). Overtime, these small scale piracies that appear to be nothing now, will lock out those who pirate, but on the flip side for those who are more honest and generous, it creates a micro economy of wealth sharing and exchange with the creators of the content.
Right now you may be thinking WTF I have to buy a meme before I can post it? Think back to the original poster who shared the initial post. They have to prove provenance before posting. So worries of bad actors posting misinformation and lies? It goes away if we can trace back to exactly who made the first post that is being shared. It may not even be shared once provenance proves it is a bot or a foreign agent or someone completely off the charts.
Now let's take this a step further to understand the possibilities of web3 a decade from now: Buying and selling jpgs is just the lowest entry point to a greater digital ecosystem to come. Did you ever imagine in the 90s or even the aughts that you will need an app, a profile, 2-factor authentication (2FA), and a digital payment method just to hail a cab? Something you could simply do by raising your hand on the side of the street is now impossible. This is web2 and you have gradually been ushered into it. It started when you got an email address and then had to use it to make a profile on websites. It started when you bought your first smart phone and the telephone became an application you selected by clicking on an icon. Participation in Web3 will require you to prove who you are, not with an email address but with an identity verified on the blockchain—your wallet which is completely controlled by you, not Google nor Facebook. Before you know it, the digital payment you use online isn't ApplePay tied to your credit card tied to a traditional bank but a decentralized token.
Technology is part of the fabric of society. We have no choice but to adopt it and advance with it. So right now you may not have fear of missing out (FOMO) on some ape jpgs, but you will be blocked from future participation in society and future wealth generation.
I touched on a few key concepts of web3 that have not been realized to the fullest potential in web2:
1. Ownership
2. Provenance
3. Security
4. Wealth
Over the coming weeks, I'll write about examples for different industries like publication and film and expand on more web3 concepts like self-sovereignty.
Let’s begin!
Part 2: Getting Setup for Web3
Some very important security things:
1. Keep your wallet information secure.
2. Use one browser for your crypto stuff and nothing else. I recommend Brave.
3. Never open links you don't trust or know who they are from.
Setting up your crypto stuff:
1. Set up an account with an exchange. Binance, Kraken, Coinbase etc are exchanges where you exchange your fiat currency to cyptocurrency. Think of it as a bank that holds your crypto. So instead of sending dollars and getting euros, you’re getting the cryptocurrency of your choice. Many web3 marketplaces have adopted Ethereum. So I sugget you get that for now. You can always exchange one token for another. Use my Coinbase link to setup your account so we both get some bitcoin rewards.
2. Get a crypto wallet. This is how you connect with web3 marketplaces and economies to spend and get paid in crypto. Your wallet is the middle point between your crypto and the marketplaces. You can have a hardware walllet like Ledger (I have one), and browser based / app wallets like Brave and Metamask (I have those). Your wallet gets connected to marketplaces and each time you make a transaction, you approve the transaction by signing your wallet.
You're setup! You have a crypto account and a crypto wallet. Buy some eths and let's buy something, like a jpg or a gif so you can own your first NFT. Follow this link to Rarible which is a web3 marketplace. To participate, you’ll be asked to connect your wallet to the website. Once your wallet is verified and connected, you can buy my gif.
This gif is the first gif ever of what I coined as time slice photography and video. I’ve minted 10,000 gifs, which means there are 10,000 unique gifs. You purchase it for a nominal fee of 0.001 Etherum. In addition to the purchase price, you are paying a gas fee. This is the fee that keeps the blockchain going as a reward to the networks that are mining cryptocurrencies that make all of this possible. Gas fee varies depending on how busy the network is. Think of gas fee this way: it’s the fee you pay to use the service. It’s like paying your monthly subscription to an app or a website, except you pay gas only when you use web3.
So load up on some crypto, make stuff, buy and sell some NFTs. You’re web3 ready!