Nothing launches an NFT to provide additional fuel to the hype machine

NFTs are trendy, and Nothing’s fans seem to like it nothing to do with them. The company that has recently been buzzed in Android circles for its heavily teased coming launch of smartphone announced it today it’s shilling NFTs. They are called Nothing Community Dotsand they are there to entice you to “connect” the dots to the company’s telephone release.

The first dots are called Black Dot NFTs. They will be “redeemed exclusively by our community investors”, and they are currently being monitored a golden ticket to the Nothing Phone (1) launch in London on July 12 (although holders will must order their own accommodation and flights).

People who have invested in the company over the past two years is eligible for Black Dots. The Nothing Discord community’s “Power Users” can also grab the NFT, which can anyone who has pre-ordered one of the first 100 devices of Nothing Phone (1) via StockX.

TechCrunch says that the NFTs can be redeemed through wallets such as MetaMask. But after the NFTs fall on July 7, they will be open to the public for purchase on Opensea, one of the most popular and active NFT marketplaces. (It has also been treated by many counterfeits previously.) It is unclear how much the NFTs are currently priced or which blockchain they are hosting.

Black Dot NFT is just a video clip of a rotating, transparent cube with – what else? – a black dot right in the middle. Nothing fans do not seem impressed. One of the best comments on Instagram posts the announcement of the NFT calls it “embarrassing”. Another calls it “a waste of resources on something completely useless.” The comment below that also reflects a feeling that we all think. “Are you already focusing on NFTs?”

There is a little less pushback on Twittereven if it still is a touch of people expressing concern about a digital NFT launch before an actual, physical smartphone. “It seems like a whole lot of nothing (puns) and there is really nothing tempting about having a black dot,” he writes. one user.

Discord’s emotions seem a little calmer, although it is worth noting that the chat room is strongly moderated. There are some creative emoji responses to the original NFT announcement post, including a cat with a “polite smile”. The current most popular emoji is the “nopers” frog, followed by a skeleton emoji.

Nothing is the idea of ​​OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, who left the company in 2020. I can not help but notice the stark similarities between the hype machine created around the first OnePlus launch in 2014 and Nothing Phone (1), coming out soon. It’s weird if this atmosphere of exclusivity will hurt the brand more than help it, since NFTs have an incredibly polarizing reputation as they currently exist on the internet.

But it is also likely that the NFT connection is in line with what Nothing is trying to achieve. TechCrunch points out that the company partnered with Polygon, a startup that helps manage blockchain transactions. Decrypt recently published an interview with Polygon’s vice president of growth, Arjun Kalsy, who mentions that the Nothing team already had a wealth of knowledge about Web3. That, combined with the fact that Nothing Phone (1) is already available at auction, seems to indicate that this is the planned path for this especially smartphone brand.

Kalsy continues:

“If you’ve looking at any Android or Apple phone, you’ll sign in with either a Google ID or an Apple ID, and to some extent Apple or Google owns the customer, right? the value comes from, Kalsy said. “In a decentralized world, we have to help the user regain control.”

It is worth noting that Nothing is not the first Android smartphone brand to use NFTs as a way to nourish the hype machine. Samsung also offers NFTs through Discord Digiday calls Samsung’s metaverse strategy a “test-and-learn” approach. But if the Android platform’s largest device maker also flirts with the blockchain in this way, it’s not far off to imagine more companies jumping on board to keep up with the trend.