I’m going to take a guess and say that the title of this piece likely spurred two questions: What’s an NFT? Immediately followed by, are they disrupting the beauty industry? Let’s start by unpacking the former.
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token; they’re unique digital certificates that verify ownership of a specific digital asset – digital data stored in a blockchain with unique codes and metadata that make them impossible to duplicate. Got it?
If you’re anything like me, this definition did not further help your understanding of what an NFT is. The good news is we’re not alone. As NFT’s make their way into mainstream culture, and brands across industries begin to adopt them into their product lines and marketing efforts, the way NFT’s are being characterized and used is changing, all in an effort toward making them more accessible, and more easily understood to the masses.
Here’s a comparison that drove clarity for me: Bitcoin is a fungible token – if you trade one bitcoin for another, and you have the same thing – the value is equal. Non-fungible tokens are not interchangeable because they are unique.
Think of baseball cards – they are not all valued equally. Popularity of players along with distinctive photos of them during certain eras of their careers create the value for individual cards. (Think of the value of a Willie Mays card vs a Bucky Dent card). In any case, the uniqueness of an NFT combined with popularity of the subject can drive the value of an NFT.
So, at the highest level NFT’s hold so much value because they’re unique, impossible to duplicate, and can be highly individual. With that understanding, it starts to make sense as to why beauty—an industry that’s always been about individualism, and unique self-expression—would begin to play in the NFT space.
At first glance, bridging the gap between virtual and IRL seems like a challenge, especially in categories like beauty, where physical…
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token; they’re unique digital certificates that verify ownership of a specific digital asset – digital data stored in a blockchain with unique codes and metadata that make them impossible to duplicate. Got it?
If you’re anything like me, this definition did not further help your understanding of what an NFT is. The good news is we’re not alone. As NFT’s make their way into mainstream culture, and brands across industries begin to adopt them into their product lines and marketing efforts, the way NFT’s are being characterized and used is changing, all in an effort toward making them more accessible, and more easily understood to the masses.
Here’s a comparison that drove clarity for me: Bitcoin is a fungible token – if you trade one bitcoin for another, and you have the same thing – the value is equal. Non-fungible tokens are not interchangeable because they are unique.
Think of baseball cards – they are not all valued equally. Popularity of players along with distinctive photos of them during certain eras of their careers create the value for individual cards. (Think of the value of a Willie Mays card vs a Bucky Dent card). In any case, the uniqueness of an NFT combined with popularity of the subject can drive the value of an NFT.
So, at the highest level NFT’s hold so much value because they’re unique, impossible to duplicate, and can be highly individual. With that understanding, it starts to make sense as to why beauty—an industry that’s always been about individualism, and unique self-expression—would begin to play in the NFT space.
At first glance, bridging the gap between virtual and IRL seems like a challenge, especially in categories like beauty, where physical…
