#SXSW is over and NFT’s had quite the presence in Austin this year. There were countless panels, events and even a “Dolly Parton audience-centric Web3 experience” all created in the name of bringing mass adoption to the space. Despite all the hype around the tech, I don’t think NFT’s should consume the entire conversation.
The run up of NFT’s over the past 24 months or so have made some early adopters very rich while leaving a bad taste in the mouth of most everyone else. You don’t have to look too far to find some twitter influencer denouncing the “absolute lunacy” of investors spending over $200k on “… monkey jpgs with no real value.” At face value, it seems like a reasonable argument, but the mass popularity of projects like Bored Apes Yacht Club and CryptoPunks has created huge licensing, merchandising and IP opportunities for holders. These opportunities are largely due to new ideas surrounding the idea of how original IP is both created and distributed. That’s the real value proposition.
So what’s the next evolution of NFT’s?
One of the biggest and most obvious use cases right now for NFT’s is original IP creation.
The Unigens Team believes that the NFT boom has created a unique IP and franchise building opportunity that allows creators to build their own original narrative world and test it against audiences (and the larger market). This approach allows audiences not only to enjoy and interact with the content, but to also own a part of it. As your audience/investors grows, so does your capital. Which allows original creators to grow their narrative experience while simultaneously giving large studios and institutional investors metrics on its large-scale viability in the legacy media ecosystem. I like to think of it as “decentralizing fandom.”
But what does that actually mean?
Well, if you’re a creator (i.e. filmmaker, author, video game developer, etc) with eyes set on long-form media, you now have a vehicle to create, build, finance and deliver content around your own original IP via Proof-of-Stake Licensing. This allows forward-thinking creators to be their own studio, financing arm and production company. It’s almost a complete reversal in the trajectory of original IP and legacy media — who’s entire business model is based around maintaining a strange-hold on their IP.
Taking this analogy a step further: imagine if the MCU, DC or even Harry Potter originally minted NFT’s as a means to raise capital to build their IP. Now imagine you’re holding an Ironman, Batman or Voldemort NFT — based on the smart contract underlying the NFT — you could also be holding the rights to license, merchandise or even create monetizable derivative works based on your holding. You could essentially build your own business around the success of the larger IP. You could license the image to commerical interests. You could form a DAO with other holders and create your own original storylines within the larger world. You could even create a burger restaurant centered around your NFT. The space is wide open for creative use-cases.
If you’ve been to a movie in the last decade or so, it’s no secret that Hollywood is no longer in the business of original concept creation, they’re in the business of licensing and acquisition. For creators, that means very LIMITED opportunities to sell original IP. For audiences, it means an endless cycle of content from decades-old IP being churned out with no end in sight. The consolidation of large media conglomerates has created a legacy industry so terrified of taking risks on new IP, that there’s been a batman film in development or production every year since 1988 — and until the money printer runs out of ink, I wouldn’t expect anything new coming out of old Hollywood.
But again, I don’t think NFT’s should be the entire conversation here. For us, it’s not the product — it’s the delivery medium. It’s how we’re choosing to build out IP. Our story is our product. That’s our point-of-difference. We’re not just PFP project, we’re building a unique and original IP based around the story of the Unigens and a generations-long extinction event that tests the resolve of the human race. It’s ANNIHILATION meets HOUSE OF LEAVES.
Our first “artifact drop” into the world went live on March 30th, 2022, but you can find the unlockable content for free in the discord. As we continue to build out our narrative world we plan on continuing to deliver free narrative drops , which allows our fans to enjoy the IP for free, which is centered around our ethos that “entry into our narrative world should be free, permissionless and widely accessible. Ownership should be scarce.”
If you’re interested in learning more about the Unigens, check us out here.
