If sticky floors and neon lights don’t scream “Friday night”, I don’t know what does. But something else you might not associate with these things are NFTs.
NFT Phillya group that hosts meetings for Philadelphians interested in anything that doesn’t work like tokens — aka the blockchain-backed digital assets — held its latest meeting Friday night at Vespers nightclub in Center City. The evening included workshops, Philly Shilly (where creators could present their projects to the audience), mingling and comedy. They also served bagels.
In accordance Bar Franek, co-founder of NFT Philly, this was also the first time NFT Philly included workshops at one of its events. The opening workshop was led by Brittany Jenkinsthe founder of edtech startup We are technical. Her presentation was called “Why NFTs”, and focused on both the technology and the general development of the internet.
So, yes, why NFTs?
NFTs are the gateway to commercial adoption of Web3, also known as this latest connected, social, decentralized iteration of the web, Philly-based Jenkins said. She compared the use of NFTs to the use of mobile phones in the early 2000s: Most people did not have one of their own back then, except for select groups such as business people. But over time everyone got one.
“It’s the same thing that’s happening right now [with] blockchain entities,” she said. “It’s a very curated group of people that engage in it, but because of the prominence of NFTs in the last couple of years, it’s really unlocked people’s curiosity to get into this space .”
NFTs can be anything digital, from photos to music to a tweet. And people now have the power to decide what commercial adoption of NFTs looks like, Jenkins said. The process of buying them is quite simple:
- Step one, get a crypto wallet, which is like your ID in the NFT world.
- Step two, go to an NFT marketplace and trade.
- Step three, click on what you want, make sure your wallet is connected to the platform and when you buy NFT, you will see it in your wallet. Finished.
Brittany Jenkins presents “Why NFTs?” (Photo by Paige Gross)
NFTs at the digital intersection between art and money
Right now, people are getting into NFTs because they love art and want to support creatives, Jenkins said — but it’s also about building your identity on the blockchain. She explained that in the future you may need an NFT to show you own property or to access your records.
Jenkins’ own introduction to the concept of NFTs was back in the early 2010s, when she was in the music industry working on concerts. CDs were dying out, but streaming wasn’t that lucrative yet, so the industry focused on making money through ticket sales, tours and festivals.
“I was part of that generation of the music industry that built new technologies around the festival experience, and from that it uncovered this notion of ‘how can artists independently monetize their content,'” she shared Technically.
NFTs and edtech
Since the pandemic, NFTs have increased in popularity. Her startup, We Are Tech, is currently building a platform where people can learn digital skills and earn cryptocurrency as they complete the internship modules.
She has been in education for about four years, she started teaching by volunteering with Girls who code, but has been in technology through self-education throughout his career. Part of her company focuses on teaching kids about Web3 as a way to help them better understand what the future of technology might look like.
“Our platform is a catalyst for the future of work,” she said. “So while we’re teaching them how to make an NFT or how to make NFT projects, we’re also exposing them to our products so they can see how they can use technology to make things that will help them improve their projects.”
As for the event?
NFT Philly. (Photo by Paige Gross)
Franek told Technical.ly that the meeting between 16 and 22 ended up with a good turnout, with many staying until the end of the night. The event also included a comedy show and workshops on topics such as generative art and how to get a Web3 job.
“I’m glad people showed up. We are in an era where almost all media coverage about crypto is negative, he said. “But to have hundreds of people show up in these early days of what we’re all building together is amazing. There were thousands of conversations, hundreds of creative ideas sparked between strangers, and partnerships and friendships formed. It does totally worth it because I put everything I had into this.”
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