William Shatner Gives Legitimacy To NFTs

Celebrities and cryptocurrency have a strange relationship. Thus far, most celebrity involvement has been either scams or through paid promotion.

There is no doubt that we live in a culture that values the opinions and actions of those who are famous. Whether they are correct appears to have little consequence.

The recent hack of Twitter shows how powerful this can be. Some famous names sent out a tweet asking for Bitcoin, in return for more Bitcoin. Most realized it was a scam yet not everyone. I feel certain the effectiveness of that scam would have been diminished is the tweets can from the account of average people instead of the likes of Elon Musk and Barack Obama.

For these reasons, it is good to finally see some positive news as it relates to cryptocurrency and a celebrity.


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James Shatner is known to millions of Baby Boomers as Captain James T. Kirk from the original Star Trek series. People all over the world idolize him for his role from over 50 years ago. Of course, he was able to revisit the role decades later in the Star Trek films that captured many from Gen X. In other words, Shatner is a name people know.

For those who are younger, you will remember him as the Priceline guy.

Shatner and Wax just released 125,000 NFTs (non-fungible tokens) that are tied to photographs of personal memorabilia from Shatner's career. Each token is tied to a particular photograph which can have its history traced via the blockchain. Already, people are starting to buy, sell, and trade the tokens on the secondary market.

Evidently, the original offering sold out in 9 minutes.

https://cryptopotato.com/famous-actor-william-shatner-sold-125000-blockchain-based-nfts/

This is showing the power of NFTs and how big the collectible market can become. Notice these NFTs that Shatner put out apply to the photographs of the memorabilia, not the actual items. They are still owned by him. Here we see another layer of value created apart from the physical items.

Ownership here is crucial. While anyone can copy an image online, the value comes from the key. Only those with the key can assert ownership over the item. If a particular photo increases in value, the one with the key will be able to cash in. Everyone else who tries will be known to be peddling a copy.

Over the last few weeks, I mentioned NFTs as it pertained to NFTShowroom. Here again, we see individuals creating value and applying it to digital items. This concept is only starting to tap into what is possible.

After all, we are dealing with a market that is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Naturally, the reality of this market is that it is often opened only to those with means. While it is possible to hit it big on some doll or toy that becomes very popular, the likelihood is rare. Instead, it usually takes some money to by a rare piece of sport memorabilia, as an example, that goes for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This will continue to a degree yet NFTs open things up for everyone else. As shown here on Hive, unknown artists can create works that have value. Individuals can buy them and see what happens. This rewards the artist while also providing the buyer with something of value.

Certain, works from someone known like Shatner are likely to fetch a bit more money than a photograph from me. However, the concept is still valid. There is value, no matter how minuscule in all that is created. When we look at that across the board, we can start to gain some insight into the potential.

It is said that cryptocurrency is going to generate the greatest wealth creation we ever saw in the history of humanity. Many believe that it is going to create hundreds of trillions of dollars in value over the next few decades. Shatner's offering is a prime example of that. Even if the tokens went for a dollar each, that is $125,000 quickly generated.


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There are a few things that are really fascinating about the world of digital collectibles.

To start, it is a way of decentralizing wealth and power. We are all aware of names like Marvel, Hasbro, and Topps, corporations that put out products that end up as collectibles years later. Thus, the production process is centralized excluding most other designers and creators.

Digital collectibles allow anyone with some talent to create items. Blockchain provides a platform where they can be housed and traded. Millions of people around the globe can now monetize their creativity.

Another factor is the pace of creation. For a company like Marvel, it is a time consuming process to develop a character and get it to market. There is a corporate process that is followed. Even after the character becomes a hit, there is then licensing agreements to be worked through and the process of selecting companies to partner with.

All this is removed in the world of blockchain. Someone can create a digital item over a weekend and have it listed for sale by Sunday night. If it is bought, another can replace it that is developed on Monday and Tuesday.

Consider the impact this will make with millions of people generating works. The collective numbers can get very big.

Of course, a great deal of what is created will just be for fun. It is unlikely that most hit it "big". Just like google.com is a very valuable web address, most cannot be sold for a box of tissues. Nevertheless, there are billions of websites around the world that offer information to people. In the end, all that information has value to someone.

Now that Shatner had a successful go with NFTs, it will be interesting to watch what other celebrities get involved. It seems likely that this idea will spread.

As it does, it will only add more validity to all that is taking place within the cryptocurrency arena. Big names carry a lot of weight in our society and positive news can really help to propel things forward.


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Digital collectibles allow anyone with some talent to create items. Blockchain provides a platform where they can be housed and traded. Millions of people around the globe can now monetize their creativity.

This is true, I do feel that at the end the huge medias are the only ones that profit and never give any chance to the individual to actually benefit at all. That's why the inception of blockchain will eventually change all this by all means. It's like the game changer

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I was actually wondering the use case for NFT art for a few days. My confusion was, it's an image that can just be copied and saved. So why would anyone pay fo it or what if someone buys one copy and starts selling multiple copied versions of the same image. You however answered part of this here :

If a particular photo increases in value, the one with the key will be able to cash in. Everyone else who tries will be known to be peddling a copy

The question still remains, what if someone just wants a "free" copy for say, for example, as their desktop wallpaper. They don't need to actually buy it, they can just download a pirated copy.

To me the NFTs that made perfect sense are the Splinterlands cards or DCity cards. These have usability and if someone wants to use it, they have to buy it.

Am I missing more of the whole NFT Art concept?

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It is like any copy in the art world. A print is a lot less than the original. Why? Because it is not the original.

With digital art, it is a collectible so one wants to have something authentic. If a photo is just copied, then it has no value. Sure someone can use it as a screen saver but if the value of that piece doubles, the individual gets no benefit.

You mention cards from games, people acquire them without playing the game but for speculation purposes. I can just copy a splinterlands card and say I have one. Of course, it has no use in the game and has no value since, if I try to go sell it, I dont have the key.

Same premise with collectibles. Now what drives people to want something is all over the board. Personally, I dont think I would spend money on a photo of Shatner's acting memorabilia but I am sure there are hundreds of thousands who would. Of course, I never understood the Cabbage Patch craze but they went for a boatload of money.

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In meatspace, you can't ever really be sure how many prints have been made, though. I have 1/5 of one image, and 8/30 of another. They're numbered, and that's all on chain; so I can know how scarce they are.

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Of course, the prints could be tokenized on chain too, reducing the vulnerability you brought up.

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NOw if the WAX team would limit sales instead of allowing the whales to buy up 1000s of packs at a time giving others a chance to buy some. I was able to get 2 regular packs this time. I told Arielle at the WAX team they should not only limit the amount of packs per transaction but they should also put a 10 or 15 20 minute block on each IP address after the first transaction is made. And if there are still some packs left after than 10 15 20 minutes is up, then and ONLY then would they be allowed to purchase more. Allowing one person to buy 3000 of 7000 packs is pretty much insider trading without them being on the inside. But then again who knows, they might all be friends.

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Sadly, blockchain cannot stop backroom deals and other under handed tactics people use.

In a case like that, those behind the project need to push to have as many people involved by implementing limits as you suggested.

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Very True. And so far the Wax Team has been super amazing. Extremely friendly and I love being part of their telegram group. I found out about it because of an email I received about William Shatner cards coming out and on the email the release date was Aug 28th, day before my birthday. Even though they came out July not August. I had missed the GPK s1 but someone from Wax sent me 1 GPK and 150 WAXP in my Wax Cloud wallet. I overslept by 30 minutes for the GPKTK release so my money was refunded in minutes. But for Shatner I was up and waiting. In fact when I was placing my other I could see others saying the page was freezing for them. Unfortunately this girl that owed me money didnt pay me in time and my paypal card isnt working so I only had enough to buy 2 regular packs. Ended up buying some WAXP on KuCoin then moving it and bought another pack from the secondary market and some shards. One of my cards combined to a Shimmer card so that was exciting. Other 3 regular cards but fairly low mint #. Under 200. Not low but not high. Might go get some more shards since BTC is up. More for my money. :D

So is this platform changing names again or just the mobile one? It feels like this is the second time Ive seen a name change here, well third different name. Unless Im thinking of another platform that changed its name recently and this one is the first time. Ive been signing up with a lot of these blockchain social media platforms. SPending more time on them than I ever did facebook twitter and even myspace. Im 44 so I was in my late 20s when myspace was out, Myspace and NewGrounds and mIRC LOL

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One thing will come to end with digitized/blockchained arts is "mint condition".

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