Get Smart with NFTs with John T. Meyer

No Fun Team founder John T. Meyer wants to help people better understand NFTs (aka non-fungible tokens). We chatted with him about some of the ways he foresees NFTs popping up in Sioux Falls and learned about something called a “Chromie Squiggle.”

The answers are direct quotes from Meyer.

How did you get smart with NFTs – ie what in your background or in your own research/activities prepared you for your job today?

Unless you’re an artist or a developer, very little would prepare you to understand NFTs.

• I’m neither of those, but the space felt like a tangent to the work we did at Lemonly.

My introduction to NFTs arrived in January 2021 in the form of NBA TopShot, the NBA’s digital trading card platform.

• It reminded me of trading baseball cards when I was a kid.
• Then I bought and sold some NFTs that summer, made some money which is always fun, and decided to dive in. From there it was podcasts, newsletters and joining many NFT communities to ask questions and try to soak up as much information as possible.

We’re all about simplicity here. Can you describe what an NFT is in 10 words or less?

A database file that can assign ownership to digital assets.

What is something people most often misunderstand about your job or about NFTs/cryptocurrency? (And if you could politely correct them, what would you say?)

It’s not just jpegs!

• Today NFTs are art, but so are memberships, tickets, share ownership and keys.
• Tomorrow NFTs will be the deed to your house, your college diploma, or your electronic medical record.

What is your favorite NFT that you have in your wallet right now?

Definitely my Chromie Squiggle. This project is one of the first generative works of art. I know it looks like my 6 year old drew it, but it was made by a computer. I think this will be worth $1 million one day.

How do you predict we will start to see more NFTs pop up in Sioux Falls?

The best use case we’ve seen so far is membership or access.

• So imagine a Fernson NFT that gets you early release beer or The Great Outdoor Store offers a VIP NFT to its best customers with discounts and specials. It’s still early for SMBs out there, but very soon (looks like September) you’ll see Starbucks rolling out their NFT strategy. This will likely be the first NFT for millions of Americans.

What is your advice to someone who wants to learn more about NFT/cryptocurrency?

The best way to learn is to dirty hands.

• I recommend download a wallet (Coinbase or Metamask), buy some ethereum (the cryptocurrency for 90% of NFTs), then buy an NFT on OpenSea (the marketplace for NFTs, think of it like eBay).

If all this seemed like a foreign language, follow me on Instagram for my series called ABC’s of NFTs and subscribe to our weekly newsletter called The Mint which explores what NFTs are and how they will be used both today and in the future.

How do you spend your time when you’re not thinking about/working on NFTs?

I always am thinking of new business ideas and companies I want to start, but my time is best spent with my two daughters, Margot (6) and Liv (3), and my beautiful wife Paige. I love running outdoors and am a fantasy baseball geek.

Anything else you’d like people in Sioux Falls to know about you, your job, or NFTs?

If anyone wants to understand NFT, crypto or blockchain better, email me at [email protected].