The Nonfungible Token (#NFT) landscape has evolved from a small ecosystem of collectors and enthusiasts to an emerging multichain ecosystem at the forefront of culture and technology.
To date, the NFT landscape has been dominated by Ethereum, Flow, and to a lesser extent Wax.
It’s likely that many NFT applications will transition from Ethereum mainnet onto Layer-2 solutions or test out other blockchains for specific applications.
Layer 2: Layer-2s & Sidechains
While the smart contract wars have blockchains fighting for DeFi applications, the battlegrounds between the upcoming Layer-2s will be waged for NFT supremacy.
Layer 3: Verticals / Applications
While non-fungible tokens(#NFTs) are created and transferred at the Layer-1 or Layer-2 level, the application layer is consumer-facing.
Ultimately, platforms will have to rely on unique utility propositions that they can provide to their users.
Layer 4: Secondary Applications
Composability ensures that other developers can build atop existing applications and protocols.
Decentraland and other virtual worlds will undoubtedly have various applications within their ecosystems such as the online casino, Decentral Games.
Layer 5: NFT Financialization
One of the largest layers of the NFT stack is the NFT financialization layer which unironically attempts to make non-fungible assets more fungible.
Similar to DeFi, NFTs require similar primitives like lending, liquidity, and asset management.
Layer 6: Aggregators
Aggregators can come in various forms. Some protocols aggregate supply while others focus on the demand (consumer) side. Within the NFT sector, there are really only two primary aggregators – OpenSea and Rarible.
Layer 7: Front Ends & Interfaces
There are many companies vying for eyeballs & building the de facto front-end for NFTs. With collectibles and crypto art as the first breakout use case, entrepreneurs have opted to build galleries/ interfaces for collectors to display their NFTs.
Unlike the DeFi ecosystem – which lies at the infra level – NFT assets are highly consumer-facing and attention-grabbing. As DeFi continues to build the financial rails of the future, NFTs will cyclically advance further into the cultural zeitgeist. messari.io/article/the-nf…
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This isn't to say that Punks, Meebits, Bored Apes, or other #NFT avatar/collectibles can't be valuable or won't continue to rise in value.
But let's all just be clear on what people are buying – status and to a lesser extent, community.
In regards to "Punks = Store of Value"
To a degree, yes Punks or NFT collectibles can be a greater store of value than their legacy luxury goods counterparts (e.g. handbags and Rolex's deteriorate over time) but the drivers of social status change over time.
Perhaps the most entertaining story on governance this year comes from your neighborhood gas station, Exxon Mobil.
Exxon's story also shares an example of how the value of governance will evolve in crypto.
A Thread on Proxy Wars, Exxon, Crypto, and Governance 👇🏻
Exxon Mobil – one of the largest oil producers in the world with a market capitalization of $270 billion – has recently entered the proxy fight of its life.
Activist fund, Engine No 1 bought 0.02% of Exxon with the intent of pressuring Exxon to adopt a greater ESG focus.
The argument is that Exxon’s unwillingness to divest from oil and gas has resulted in the underperformance of the company which is management’s (the board’s) fault.
Orchid's key piece of infrastructure is nanopayments – probabilistic payments where instead of sending $1, a consumer would send a payment with a provably fair 1% chance of paying $100.
Orchid's infrastructure can be used to create other marketplaces that require nanopayments.
Orchid faces competition from existing VPN providers, but can potentially compete on a few axes:
1) Price - most important for consumers
2) Security - enhanced encrypt, no single server or point of failure
3) Privacy - many VPNs are free but collect your data and sell it