Companies across many industries are jumping onboard the NFT and cryptocurrency bandwagon at a lightning pace, and the latest appears to be social media video giant YouTube.
YouTube’s NFT motivation
It’s easy to see why YouTube has an interest in the NFT and crypto space. Sales of NFTs have skyrocketed in the past few years and reached some $25 billion in 2021.
YouTube isn’t the only social media monolith eyeing a move into NFTs. Some of YouTube’s biggest and fiercest competitors have either already entered the NFT and crypto space or are signaling their intent to do so.
Recently, Twitter announced the launch of a tool through which users can showcase NFTs as hexagonal profile pictures. Late in 2021, Instagram said it was exploring NFTs. Last fall, the hugely popular short video app TikTok ventured into the craze, announcing an NFT collection designed by some of its top creators. Even Reddit is exploring the space if their recent LinkedIn job postings for NFT-related engineer roles are any indication.
YouTube’s NFT plans
YouTube is exploring features for its video creators to capitalize on non-fungible tokens. In a recent letter on the company’s 2022 priorities, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stated, “We’re always focused on expanding the YouTube ecosystem to help creators capitalize on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs while continuing to strengthen and enhance the experiences creators and fans have on YouTube.”
While YouTube’s interest in the NFT space appears to be focused on supporting creators, it has also indicated plans to invest in gaming and shopping using digital NFT products. YouTube has also cited the decentralization concept of Web3 as a “source of inspiration” concerning opportunities around crypto, NFTs, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
Next up for YouTube and NFTs
While YouTube has not provided additional details on what NFT features could look like at the company, creators of a few viral YouTube videos have already made them into NFTs and sold them on their own, so a grassroots groundwork is already being laid for its move into this space.
