NFTs appeal to the human need to store culture, the executive explains
Hong Kong-based tech entrepreneur and investor Yat Siu opened up on his ideas regarding non-fungible tokens, giving advice to newcomers in the field and explaining how NFTs fit into the emerging movement for data rights.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, a leading digital entertainment, blockchain, gamification and artificial intelligence firm, explained that NFTs seek to capitalise on the human need to “store culture” that has existed throughout history.
“We describe NFTs as stores of culture, because they embody a moment in history,” Siu stated, adding that the essence of art is to capture culture.
The executive highlighted how monetary value is not at the core of things that represent culture by stating that someone who receives an autograph of their favourite celebrity is not likely to seek to sell it to earn a quick profit.
Siu pointed out that similarly, most people who buy paintings or photography want to own culture and don’t intend to sell it instantly. “That’s not how we engage with culture,” he added.
The Animoca co-founder advised newcomers into the field not to come in with the goal of earning profits off your first NFT but to instead seek to understand how the technology can enable revolutionary utilities going ahead.
Animoca is known for its prominent NFT projects including The Sandbox, F1 Delta Time and MotoGP Ignition. The company is also an investor in Dapper Labs, OpenSea and Axie Infinity.
When asked about how NFTs can be expected to affect the data ownership space, Siu stated that the technology has the potential to create a dialectic shift in how we view data rights today.
“What’s interesting about this ownership that we’re able to create, is that it doesn’t come from a sort of scarcity that you can dig up from the ground,” he explained.
He added that data is one of the world’s most valuable resources today and big tech companies including Facebook and Amazon are trying to extract every skerrick of data from their users to enable customised advertising. This only goes to show that data has become the source of absolute power, Siu concluded.
