07.17.2023 Stage TEN
If you’ve been on the internet at all lately, you’ve no doubt heard the term NFT floating around. Maybe you were one of the first people to jump on this phenomenon, but if not, here’s a little crash course on what an NFT is and why you should even care.
What are NFTs and how do they work?
NFT stands for Non-fungible token—and yes, we know that doesn’t clear any confusion you may have been feeling. Basically, “non-fungible” means that it is one-of-a-kind and can’t be replaced with something else. Bitcoin is fungible—trade one bitcoin for another and you’ll still have bitcoin. A Picasso, on the other hand, is non-fungible—trade a Picasso for a Monet, and you end up with something completely different.
NFTs are part of a cryptocurrency blockchain that supports NFTs’ need to store extra information that makes them work differently from your typical bitcoin.
An NFT can be anything digital—a drawing, music, video, any kind of digital content.
Wondering what you could sell?
Well, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, just sold his first-ever tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million back in October 2021. Grimes has made over $6 million selling digital art as NFTs—one 50-second video of the artist sold for $390,000. The viral meme Nyan Cat sold for almost $600,000...even Taco Bell is on the NFT train with their line of taco-themed gifs that sold out in 90 seconds.
And while you might be wondering why people would pay so much money for things that you can literally right-click and save, it all comes down to one thing—ownership. Sure, you can buy a print of that Picasso we mentioned earlier, but there is only one person who owns the original. An NFT is the original.
YouTube is joining the world of NFTs
On February 10, 2022, YouTube officially threw its hat into the NFT ring when its Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan announced in a blog post that YouTube is launching new ways for creators to monetize their content.
One of those ways? Giving creators the tools necessary to sell content as NFTs.
Mohan said that NFT capabilities would provide creators with “a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favorite creators” and that this “could be a compelling prospect for creators and their audiences.”
He went on to talk about how NFTs could allow creators to build deeper relationships with their audiences through collaboration and discover a currently untapped way to monetize their content.
And while YouTube is now creating the tools that will make selling an NFT a lot easier for creators, this is something that has been happening for some time now. Nyan Cat, for example, is a YouTube video and it was sold as a YouTube video.
So what does this mean for creators?
While YouTube is still in the very early stages of rolling out any kind of NFT tool, this is great news for creators. Any way that YouTube—and other social media networks—can help creators monetize the content they create is a good thing in our books.
It could become a secondary revenue stream for many creators. First, you create the content, work with partners, and get paid by YouTube for views. Then, you can sell an NFT for that same video. It’s genius, really.
And the bustling NFT industry has shown that there is a market for these digital products.
Going live with NFTs on YouTube
While the current landscape of selling NFTs on YouTube is still being created, we can’t help but think about how live e-commerce and NFTs go hand-in-hand.
The development of NFTs on YouTube is all about creating new ways for fans and creators to connect. Live streaming already gives creators a new and exciting way to connect and interact with their audiences. It stands to reason that live streams where creators are selling their NFTs are the next frontier of audience engagement.
With Stage TEN, creators can easily add e-commerce to live streams and sell directly to their audience. It’s all about delivering more than just a product—it’s about creating an experience that connects you with your audience.
We can’t wait to see what YouTube rolls out for NFTs and what creators start to sell.
If you’re ready to sell live on YouTube, don’t wait! Stage TEN can help you create your own live commerce streams on YouTube and beyond.
