“Don’t Count Crypto Out” Vending Times

Cryptocurrency has taken a big hit lately with the bankruptcy of the FTX crypto exchange, but one crypto entrepreneur who has brought crypto to the retail space believes the technology has a promising future.

Hugo McDonough

Hugo McDonaugh, who introduced a vending machine that offers non-fungible tokens — a technology that allows physical assets to be sold using non-fungible devices with data stored on a blockchain — shared his views in a Bloomberg podcast.

The podcast “Would you buy an NFT from a vending machine?” was moderated by Philip Lagerkranser, senior editor at Bloomberg News, and Bloomberg reporter Tanzeel Ahktar.

McDonaugh launched myNFT, an online marketplace for trading NFTs, using a vending machine at NFT.London at the Queen Elizabeth II Center in London, UK in October.

“I think every single non-fungible asset in the world will have a symbol that represents its value, its authenticity, its tradability… and so we wanted to be part of that future or create something or system that would help make that into a reality,” said McDonaugh, who launched myNFT in 2017.

Growing pains

He agrees that crypto had “quite a year” in 2022.

“I think you have to look at it in the context of any kind of game-changing, paradigm-shifting technology that comes to the fore — how it works,” he said.

“Booms and busts and natural bubble cycles were part of dotcom, were part of the railroad in the U.S. It was part of huge technology changes because of human behavior and excitement and these kinds of things.

“I think what comes out of this is better for the industry. The uncertainty is taken out of the industry and more certainty is put back in. People who want to build value are found and capital starts flowing into those instead of the more speculative projects, and it will also pave the way for some form of … sensible regulation.”

The role of reversal

The myFNT vending machine is an attempt to make NFTs more accessible, he said.

The user pays 10 pounds ($12.07) and gets an NFT card from the machine. They scan the card and access myNFT where they have access to a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet. They can then purchase and redeem NFTs that are automatically sent to their wallet.

MyNFT recruited artists to donate their works to the machine for the London event in October. Buyers could purchase these redeemable NFTs.

“Once they’re in your wallet, you as the owner can do whatever you want with it,” McDonaugh said. “You can resell it if you want. You can keep it forever. You can collect other pieces from that artist.”

There were some “hiccups” for the redemptions when the payment terminal provider couldn’t handle the volume, he said, “but we resolved them as time went on.”

The future is promising

McDonaugh welcomed the UK government wanting to educate itself and cryptocurrency.

He said a government report noted that NFTs could represent property rights, and added that the UK could create rules for the cryptocurrency space to allow innovation to flourish.

“I think you’re going to have businesses with private blockchains. I think you’re going to have big really decentralized public blockchains … I think what you’re going to end up with is an Internet of blockchains.”

MdDonaugh looks forward to seeing users move NFTs between blockchains.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of innovation around that multi-chain concept over the next few years.”

Although there are many NFT artworks available, he envisions several types of NFTs.

“At the end of the day it’s a digital deed, it’s a blank canvas where you can program different kinds of values ​​and different rules, and so I think it’s a world where you’ll start to see new kinds of assets that exist in the traditional world being tokenized as NFTs. I think that’s going to start happening. And it’s going to bring more liquidity to these pretty illiquid markets, and I think that’s going to be interesting.”

PopCom, an automated retail technology company specializing in point of sale and kiosk solutions, introduced a kiosk selling NFT art at NFT.NYC, a gathering of Web3 developers and followers in June.

Photo: LinkedIn.