Decoding NFT: When Web2.0 mindset meets Web3.0 NFT
Along with the popularity of NFT, people start to explore the possibility of adopting it in their business development. So the question is, what is the most crucial thing for this adoption? Surely, technology, capital, planning, and execution capabilities are all important elements, but what is more critical is how to get rid of the "old mindset” and switch to a “new” one to enter the new world.
The "old mindset” refers to a set of thinking patterns that are common in the Web2.0 era: although it is believed that individuals have more autonomy than those in the Web1.0 era and enjoy a more participative and interactive Internet environment, the content provided and contributed by the users is ultimately owned by the platform. In short, there are participative but centralized. The situation has changed, radically, when the blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been introduced and stepped into our daily life. And in this new era, which is also known as the Web 3.0 era, a decentralized "new mindset” is most thirsted.
Two recent NFT projects can serve as instances and demonstrate the consequences of the” old mindset” encountering NFT.
One is the Pet Paws NFT issued by Global Pets World Group, a subsidiary of Wisdomcome group. Highlighting the features of “combining virtual and real" and “the world's first Global Pets theme park”, the Pet Paws project not only owned its large-scale press conference, in which different celebrities were invited and participated, but also gained plenty of media exposure due to the fame of its group chairman, Mark Chan. Moreover, on the eve of the sale, different KOLs joined the trend and launched advertorials to push the sales. However, as of the time of writing, the nearly 700 NFTs on Opensea are only owned by around 80 wallet addresses, reflecting the limited circulation; in addition, the official Discord group of Pet Paws is not well operated: only a few interactive discussions among members can be founded, and it is far away to define these conversations as “participation” or “communication”.
The second example is the "RED NVLPE" series under the artist Edison Chen’s 2426C NFT project. With the fame of Edison Chen and eight groups of well-known creators, RED NVLPE has its innate advantages, setting the total item numbers and price in 8888 and 0.1888 ETH is also a smart move. However, after the release of the whitelist on February 15, complaints pop up: many members complained in the official Discord group of 2426C that they did not receive their NFTs after minting; or receiving multiple NFTs for no reason... Although an official apology was made sooner after the incident, the damage was done and the project was criticized as rigged - it is discovered that when the ETH was sent by the buyers to the official wallet address and the NFTs were manually transferred to the buyer's wallet by the official account instead of a true minting that is processed via. The anger of the buyers, thus, was fuelled by the appearance of the evidence.
Despite the two projects are being different in background, content, and selling points, they are having the same reason for the failure: the “old mindset”. In the Web 2.0 era, a grand press conference, the endorsement of celebrities, etc, are some effective practices to gain huge success: once you can gain the attention of the public, and with some operations behind-the-scenes, it is not that difficult to make successful projects. This approach doesn’t work in Web3.0 anymore. Here, it is no longer the platform that plays a dominant role, but the individuals, communities, and the power of the masses; moreover, as all operations are recorded by the blockchain, everything is open, transparent and traceable. In other words, an NFT project that is operated with an old-fashioned mindset will only become a small-circle musical chair game; only projects that truly embrace a decentralized mindset, believe in the power of individuals, and manage the community attentively will probably be well-received.
The result of one single NFT project will not bring much change to the whole trend. But thank you to the two NFT projects for bringing us the question: have you equipped yourselves with a “new mindset” that is essential in Web 3.0?
