Why are NFTs valuable today? How did they come into existence? And what do NFTs actually mean for The Web? Jamie goes back in time to revisit Colored Coins, Counterparty, and the genesis of Crypto Punks with their creators, such as Matt Hall of Larva Labs, alongside early collectors & creators Silly Tuna, Josie, Shaban Shaame and more. This act documents the key moments in the early history of NFTs and helps frame what NFTs are and most importantly, why now? 

We hear from Gaby Dizon, cofounder of Yield Guild Games, a leading Play-to-Earn community, on why the COVID Lockdown tipped the scales towards the Metaverse - bringing digital things more meaning in our lives and subsequent value. 

Jamie talks to Beeple about the iconic $69m sale that propelled NFTs into the mainstream, the build up through a series of smaller sales, and why he chose NFTs as the medium for his iconic piece; The First 5000 Days

But to explain how the market got this key moment listeners are taken back to the 2017 crypto bull run and the genesis perhaps its first moment of mainstream attention; Cryptokitties. As collector Silly Tuna puts it, this is where Ethereum found product-market fit. Cats, on a blockchain. And when its success tested the very limits of the Ethereum itself. 

However, we don’t leave it there. We go even further back in time to before Cryptokitties and even Ethereum, to explore Colored Coins on Bitcoin guided by J Dog and other early adopters. Matt Hall talks about the creation of Crypto Punks, how they were initially given away for free when they didn't even use the term NFT and how crazy it is to even him how successful they have gone on to become selling for millions of dollars at major auction houses like Sotheby's. And we finish the fact talking to Cyrus Adkisson and Etheria, arguably the first NFT ever created on Ethereum. 

This episode of the history and future of NFTs, an audio documentary, was narrated by Jamie Burke.

The documentary was written, produced and edited by Pet Berisha. 

 

This episode of the history and future of NFTs featured:

• Ryan Gill
• Robness
• Marguerite deCourcelle
• Angie Taylor
• Gauthier Zuppinger
• Jay Delay
• Hans Artblock
• Josie 
• JOY
• JIN 
• Silly Tuna
• Loopify
• Johan Unger
• Stephen Young
• Sean Gardner
• Sebastian Borget
• Duncan Cockfoster
• MetaDreamer
• Gabby Dizon
• Jeff Zirlin
• Beeple
• Jeremy Johnson AKA J Dog
• Shaban Shaame
• Matt Hall
• Cyrus Adkisson