Hey again. Pascal here. Today I wanted to cover a trend that seems to be growing by the minute. The topic for today is NFTs. What are NFT's? They are basically digital assets that can be interchanged for cryptocurrency, somewhat like a token. The value of these tokens are often directly correlated to the perceived value of the digital asset itself.

Wikipedia defines an NFT as the following:

"A non-fungible token is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger. NFTs can be used to represent easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items, and use blockchain technology to establish a verified and public proof of ownership." 

I myself was quite skeptical of the longevity of this trend, as the whole concept seems somewhat shady to me. Why would I pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a .JPEG or .PNG that I can simply RIGHT-CLICK-SAVE and viola - I know have the coveted "artwork" right on my hard drive. I know I am not the only one who has reached this conclusion. So why are people still buying these so called NFTs? My curiosity soon overwhelmed my skepticism and I soon dived into hours of research. One has to be open minded to these types of innovations as you could easily fall victim to "old man syndrome." I once believed cryptocurrency was just a fad, due to the fact that I myself have not done any hard research. Instead I was listening to all the shortcomings and failures of cryptocurrency projects blasted through the biased news networks. It wasn't until I dug deep, when I realized what an idiot I have been for not investing earlier. While cryptocurrency may be well on its way to become mainstream, there is still much speculation by the older generation. I say all this because I believe the same controversy is happening to NFTs.

Well after days of research, joining random telegram and discord groups, and buying random NFT's for a few cents - I can proudly say my perspective has changed. NFTs are far more than just a digital image. They are a status symbol, a work of art, a dividend paying asset, a currency transmission tool, and much more. While some NFT's serve no purpose but just a quick money grab, there are others with actual utility.

Before I dive into the different types of NFTs available on the market, allow me to explain in layman's terms why the NFT craze is here to stay. In order for you to fully understand this phenomenon, I need you to look deep within yourself. When was the last time you bought something materialistic in order to show off to your friends? Whether it may be a coffee maker, a great book (that you will never read), a painting for your wall at home, a collection of ancient quarters, shot glasses from some tourist trap in Miami, and much more. There are some things that we buy that serve as a utility and talking piece. Now think of these items and their place on social media. They may live on your Facebook Wall or Instagram Stories - a photo of a concert ticket you went to in 1983 (to prove your an OG fan of Michael Jackson) or a photo of an intellectual book, to prove you're indeed a smart guy/girl. What I'm trying to get at, is that we ourselves are digitizing the world around us in order to show our peers items and experiences for social proof.  Now if you can understand the psychological basis of this behavior, then you will be able to understand why NFTs are going to be our next generation "bragging" tools.

In a world of social media, where people fake their entire lives for the sake of likes and comments - it can be quite hard to tell what is real or fake. Did that person really buy a new car? or is just borrowing/leasing it? --- Did your neighbor really fly out to Europe? or did he just take a trip to Disney's Epcot. --- You will be surprised how many things are left unsaid, to just to let your imagination run wild. 

Now imagine a world where you buy a car, book, plane/concert ticket or anything of similar nature - and alongside you receive a blockchain verified proof that you really purchased what you said you did. Allow me to paint a picture, let's say you bought tickets to Michael Jackson's first ever concert, and alongside you receive a blockchain 1 of 1 irreproducible NFT with it. This NFT has now encompassed a historical experience. Not only can you prove that you were there for his first concert long after you lost the ticket stub (bragging rights), but you can also add it to your online avatar (social media profile) as a token that represents your personality. Not only is it a talking piece, like the staged photos some people take in Miami in front a Lamborghini rental, but it holds authenticity and monetary value. Just like people sell half drank Gatorade bottles from famous celebrities, you have something that is verifiable and irreproducible. You can either choose to sell it for the current market's price or forever hold it as a token of your appreciation, just as we do with modern day art. 

Now NFT's will not interest everyone. As I can see it to be more of a factor in opulent social circles. Just as art from a gallery. Once technology advances to embrace these digital projects, you will soon begin to see a TV replacing the canvas on the wall. This is just one aspect I have touched on today, but there are far more financial utilities I have yet to cover, more on that later! (HINT: Imagine using an NFT to distribute royalties on the sale of a property) 

Now, I know I told you guys I was going to dive into the technology inside the Zero Trace Pen on my older post. But, I just wanted to make a brief detour and cover something new the company has added to their overall collective. If you visit Zero Trace's Website, you will notice they have added yet another tab under their "Community" menu item. This tab directs you to their newly created NFT collection. What I find quite fascinating is that when you purchase these NFTs you will have the ability to unlock it and access confidential information stored within the token itself.

Not only are you buying and investing in a piece of history. But you also will receive an actual Zero Trace Pen voucher that can be redeemed on their website at any time. This itself is quite profound as your basically locking the purchase price of the pen, regardless of it's future price adjustments. Additionally, you will be able to claim you are true supporter of the movement itself in this revolutionary technology that is just exponentially growing. This NFT token will be form of stored value that we have yet to understand. Imagine if you could buy the world's first dark website? Well, the Tor project successfully did this and sold this token for 1.7 Million. So whose to say this couldn't result in the same scenario, months or years from now? Even if it doesn't - you're still getting the product and supporting a great project. Its a win-win. 

I hope I haven't stirred your biases towards NFTs too much. But thanks for reading. I plan on elaborating the financial utilizes of NFTs on my posts to come. 

*Disclaimer: The author of this post has reached out to Zero Trace, in order to obtain the product in exchange for review. Zero Trace works with verified reviewers in order to help the community learn more about their products.*