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A nonfungible token (NFT) music clip from a forthcoming single is being auctioned by musician and co-founder of the rock band Linkin Park, Mike Shinoda, yesterday on Rarible. This means Shinoda joins a throng of celebrities and influencer in embracing NFT technology — and bringing their fanbases with them.
Late last night Shinoda revealed the drop with a short Tweet:
I made a thing: https://t.co/nxirMUsCvb #NFTs #Cryptoart @ourZORA
— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) February 6, 2021
In a follow-up thread Shinoda described the auction as an “experiment,” and seemed to be impressed with the value proposition of provable scarcity and ownership:
“Here’s the crazy thing. In order to create awareness of his upcoming celebrity boxing match, YouTuber Logan Paul released a box of 44 Nintendo Famicom Trading Cards (NFCs) that resembled Pokemon cards.
Also, billionaire investor Mark Cuban created some halfhearted animations on Rarible and signed a deal with Rarible to release more.
More celebrities than a gossip mag
Shinoda isn’t the only celebrity who has been toying with NFTs.
Yesterday, YouTuber Logan Paul released a set of 44 NFTs styled as pokemon cards to promote his upcoming celebrity boxing match. Likewise, billionaire investor Mark Cuban released some halfhearted animations on Rarible, and today is releasing another set where buyers can request personalized videos from the Shark Tank host.
Polyient games co-founder Craig Russo says that the celebrity activity is an inevitable byproduct of a wild bull market overtaking the NFT space, but also a natural product-market fit that better links famous individuals to their communities:
“After a relatively slow period over the past few months, the NFT market is again heating up,” said Russo. Soulja Boy completes the top-of-the-line names attempting to sell collectibles on Rarible. He has been selling his items in the last week. He has $30 worth of animated graphics available to buy on his site, and is currently experimenting with non-blockchain content platforms, such as OnlyFans , after setting up an account just a few days ago.
Although some proposals appear to be blatant money grabs, there are plenty of examples of people and companies engaged in using this technology to better reach out to their fans. Rounding out the big names trying to pawn some tokens is one-hit wonder Soulja Boy, who has been selling collectibles on Rarible throughout the last week. Ethereum has always been a Web3 project and the creation of an economic system based on the concept of ownership.
NFTs continue to grow at a fast clip, so we are seeing this play out,” Wright added.
“Celebrities are realizing that they can interact directly with their fan base by selling their creative works online instead of relying on ad-based model.” NFT enthusiast Pranksy, who has been promoting NFTs to the mass on the nightly news, believes celebrities using NFTs to monetize their content and connect with fans might be around for a while.
“One of the visions of Ethereum has always been Web3 and the creation of an ownership economy. With the growth of NFTs we're seeing that play out,” said Wright. “Celebrities are recognizing that instead of relying with ad-based models, they can interact directly with their community and tribe online by selling their creative works.”
Pranksy, the collector-whale who has recently been proselytizing NFTs to the masses on the nightly news, likewise thinks that celebrities using NFTs to monetize their content and connect with fans might be here to stay.
Shinoda gave a lesson on value and NFTs to his followers who said he was selling content users can get for free. The thing that threw everyone off was the notion that “an Instagram post is worthless.” I think that's wrong.
IG uses it a lot. It's their user activity that makes them money.
The thing that’s throwing everyone off is the idea that “something I’d post on Instagram doesn’t have value.”
That is incorrect.
It’s very valuable to IG. User activity=they make money. Here, the exact same item (the post) has real, public value—to *you*#nft
— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) February 6, 2021
