aka the upside of NFTs for VCs and DIDs… and everyone on the Web(3).
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Verifiable Credentials (VCs) and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) are emerging technical standards on which Identity and Reputation are being built on the Web.
… but standards are meaningless without adoption.
NFTs have gotten into the hands, pockets, wallets of way more people, way faster than any other credentialing technology… including Open Badges.
NFTs are primitives that add self-expression, social meaning and value to digital identities. The cultural drive is winning more people over than technical purity. In short, people want credentials with a soul.
NFTs are exemplary expressions of new Web3 paradigms… and complexities.
Whether we like it or not, NFTs are getting millions of people exposed to new tooling and behaviours of web3.
IF we believe in principles of self-sovereignty, self-determination, equity AND we want to shift the existing centralised power structures THEN we should care about NFTs and Web3 education - or Ed3 as we know it.
As more users engage and become fluent in wallets, private keys and tokens, they will eventually learn about DIDs and VCs, an inevitable upskilling pathway.
This personal adoption will lead to broader adoption of emerging (Web3) tech and onboarding of billions.
We easily point the finger at the younger, good-vibing cryptopunks (i.e. new age cypherpunks without the web2 baggage) who get into shiny new things without deep knowledge of what they are doing… I think we owe our future generation more respect and trust.
NFTs could be the perfect vehicle to onboard them on a progressive journey to understand what-to-use-when, what data should go on-chain or off-chain. In other words, learning which use cases are best fit for NFT, VCs, or DIDs - ask joyful Evin McMullen.
Different users have different needs. Key management is more important to DeFi folks who hold a lot of their worth in wallets than to most users who favor UX and tinkering and are only risking a few hundred euros in NFTs (if they lose keys it is not dramatic), as Cooper Turley points out.
NFTs like POAPs are validating use cases of Open Badges (proof of participation, open recognition) and scaling adoption faster than ever.
Borrowing a metaphor used by Kevin Owoki, NFTs can be thought of as “primitive” Trojan horses for Web3 values that align with DIDs and VCs - only in a more user-friendly way.
The technical community might have to go OffScript relying on more designers and creatives to help bridge the adoption gap - moving from janky interfaces to elegant experiences.
We all need to be a bit more UX Maxis! Remember: “to the user, the interface is the system” (J. Raskin)
If adoption is the ultimate metric of success for a technical spec, NFTs are something that the OGs of credentials and identity standards should celebrate rather than deny.
“NFTs, much like memes, are durable compression algorithms for culture itself“- Taylor Kendal. Discounting the cultural potential of NFTs is misjudging the technology and throwing away the baby with the bath water.
“Join for the NFT, stay for VCs and DIDs” - Simone
#WAGMI