Exploring Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Web3

NFTs could be heading to Instagram in the near term. After the metaverse, this signals the mainstreaming of NFTs.

So we turn this week's discussion to all things crypto, from Web3, metaverse and NFTs, to some of our favourite examples of brands taking advantage of cryptocurrencies in the real world.

Director of WGSN Insight Andrea Bell is joined by Cassandra Napoli, WGSN Insight’s Senior Strategist, and Sarah Housley, WGSN’s Head of Consumer Tech. We touch on opportunities not only for brands in terms of product development, but also for creators who will have more autonomy over their content and be able to build direct relationships with their fans. Join our dive into the future of the internet…

Ownership via NFTs

“The appeal to consumers is that they can own things on the internet. We’re quite used to thinking of the internet as this quite nebulous thing that we don’t really own things in, we don’t really have possessions. 

“But in this next era of the internet where we are living more on it and we are more embodied in it – perhaps we’re living in the metaverse – we will want to buy and own things. And if we want to actually have ownership of say the clothes we wear or the cars we drive in the metaverse, then we need to buy NFTs.”
– Sarah Housley, Head of Consumer Tech

The creator economy

“Creators are building micro-economies around their social status via crypto tokens that can be bought by fans and unlock incentives for financial support. Basically, these tools give creators autonomy over their content and how they’re paid, and social tokens simultaneously offer fans greater access to those creators. 

“If an artist has a social token and I subscribe to it, I might be able to engage with them before or after an event, perhaps do a meet-and-greet. It’s kind of like a VIP or rewards opportunity for me if I buy into that social token.”
– Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist, Insight

To hear the full discussion tune in to Episode 47 of our Create Tomorrow podcast, Exploring Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Web3, on Anchor, Apple and Spotify.