“It’s the technology behind NFTs that we’re really interested in,” says the City National Bank VP
As the market for NFTs has cratered, experts across the industry came together at TheWrap’s annual business conference, TheGrill, to discuss where NFTs are headed next.
“That’s really a key,” Sarah Early, an entertainment and culture marketing agent at UTA, told panel moderator and TheWrap’s “Tech vs Media” podcast host, Richard Wolpert, during the panel Wednesday.
Early continued, “So moving away from collectibles, I really think of that as the entry point for future utility to access the community, to really go into these new areas, maybe universal ID one day in the future, but really that key which unlocks all things to come.”
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The panel – titled “Revolutionizing the Future of Entertainment With NFTs, which was presented by City National Bank – moved on to definitions of NFTs (units of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, which certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable).
“I think of it as a digital good that will actually provide the foundation for real monetization on the internet,” said Melody Hildebrandt, chief information security offering at Fox and president of Blockchain Creative Labs. “Like the sense of property rights that can exist in an online sense that I think can facilitate what the new model of what a new internet is going to be and help with the right monetization framework to be able to appropriately have both creators and communities able to monetize and own things in a real way.”
Attila Csutak, VP of Faster Payments at City National Bank, rounded out the responses by introducing the topic of NFTs’ function in the larger world of “emerging payments.”
“It’s the technology behind it that we’re really interested in,” Csutak said. “How can we put existing payment ecosystems in place to put them in that environment? Because right now the ecosystem is very archaic. We have a lot of different models that we have to deal with. We’re trying to simplify, we’re trying to make it more seamless, easier to use for everyone and to end the spectrum that usually starts with the retail, but then it goes to the commercial side.”
Wolpert then addressed the crypto winter that took place, where some NFTs have lost over 90% of their value. He also mentioned that many young people feel that they have been cheated by NFTs. Each panelist described the rationale for continued investment in these technology tickets.
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Explaining early on why she feels this concept is more than just a cash grab, Hildebrandt emphasized that ownership of an NFT differs from ownership of physical property or other digital assets because they are not “infinitely replicable”, nor are ” valued at zero because anyone could right-click save it, or it wasn’t because you uploaded it to YouTube and you’ve lost ownership.”
Both Early and Hildebrandt expressed confidence in going through the “first wave” of NFTs, based on the idea that the concept has been proven to various audiences as something lucrative and accessible.
“So much has gone on in the last five years, but I hope it’s going to continue on the same path so that we can adopt this technology and use it to the benefit of the customers we serve and us as a bank because it requires a lot to monitor and enter the transaction,” Csutak said. “We have this check print dispersal collection model built into our DNA. We want to simplify it, we want to move everyone, consumers and commercial customers, away from that model to the digital model. Nobody wants to touch anything to begin with – the pandemic certainly accelerated that. Whether it’s checks or cards, you don’t want to touch it anymore. So we want to be upfront where we introduce these new new payments.”
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The panel also revealed tangible and more practical examples of NFTs—such as a sweater embedded with an NFT to bring fans of Vérité to concerts with purchases—and questions and concerns about average consumers engaging in the market, as well as environmental impacts of NFTs.
Watch the highlights from the panel above.
About TheGrill
For over a decade, WrapPRO’s Grill event series has led the conversation on the convergence of entertainment, media and technology, bringing together newsmakers to debate the challenges and opportunities facing content in the digital age. Tailored for a C-suite and innovative, forward-thinking attendees, the event delivers a unique series of curated discussions, industry panels and virtual networking activations that explore the ever-changing media landscape. For more information about TheGrill visit thegrill.thewrap.com.
TheGrill 2022 sponsors include Loeb & Loeb, City National Bank, Gracenote, Warner Bros. Discovery, Gerber Kawasaki, Sony Pictures, Take-Two Interactive, SAG-AFTRA, New York Festivals, Samba TV and IMAX.
