CHOOSE A TOOL FOR A JOB, NOT A JOB FOR A TOOL
I had been thinking of another post I needed to make on the subject of Web 3 domains, how I had serially researched that sector and the sources of Web 3 domains, and how I had consistently found “Unstoppable Domains” as the leading provider…
After a few months, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a series A injection from Pantera Capital, which put the total value at close to one billion USD.
Registration for Tekedia Mini-MBA issue 9 (12 September – 3 December 2022) has started. Register here. The cost is N60,000 or $140 for the 12-week programme.
When I started writing about it… everyone was like ‘What is a Web 3 domain?’… it was around November of last year and after 9 months we have a $1 billion category king.
But as always, I start with a simple idea that should take ten minutes of my time to write, and I discover other relevant things that add… I end up with a Tekedia piece that resembles a master’s thesis. 20 minute readings are too long for some people.
That’s how it was when I discovered Victor Akujuo‘s post on ‘2022 is a brutal year for the crypto market’. So I’m resisting the temptation to make it part of the imminent ‘Unstoppable Domains’ Pantera Capital Series A piece, and instead just share my ideas relevant to the big piece by Victor separately,
Cryptocurrency was born to provide an alternative to FIAT as an “instrument of value” to trade with. To this day, many in the US celebrate May 22 as “Bitcoin Pizza Day”, to commemorate May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz from Florida spent 10,000 BTC on two pizzas. It was never intended as an investment vehicle.
Digital art creations were born to be a collectible and attract a collector. Collectables are of subjective value, as their aesthetics are in the eye of the collector, and whoever else chooses to agree with them. People have built collections of all kinds of things, and some of us share this urge with some far less intelligent life forms. The Satin Bowerbird ‘makes structures out of sticks … furnishes it with shiny objects, such as rubber paper, plastic straws, pens …’ (learningbirdwatching.com), but there is no evidence that this gathering behavior is useful for wildlife survival, and sometimes can be an obstacle. As a species, we have held collections of stamps, coins, beer mats, bottle tops and celebrity memorabilia. One of the strangest I have found on the web is a ‘Navel Fluff Collection’ by one Graham Barker (25 Strangest Collections on the Web).
The value of collectibles varies over time. For example, as the notoriety of a celebrity fades, so will memories associated with him or her. Again, the main force behind fundraising is not a good investment to profit from in the future.
Web 3, also called decentralized or blockchain domains, was intended as a universal identity in Web 3, to develop a Web 3 website, anchor a Web 3 ecosystem, and be a proxy for long alphanumeric blockchain IDs that are difficult to remember and easy to transcribe. error. (Similar to how Web 2 domains replace an IP identity in Web 2 through DNS)
Now, while most people can’t even provide a Web 3 address where they visited or interacted with virtual content, we already have people “mirroring” Web 3 domains (buying them up through either Web3 domain providers or the blockchain system, and offer them for sale at an increased price). Web 1/2 sites and the domain names that represent them (through DNS) were already very much a thing when domain flipping started in the old domain market.
But if anyone is hell bent on getting into domain flipping, I’ve included an interesting article on common mistakes. It was originally written for Web1/2 domains, but the principles also apply to Web 3. Web 1/2 started around 1995, and with Web 3, fairly new, catchy short domains will still be much easier to find.
Would strongly advise against ‘domain squatting’ (buying up a domain related to a well-known company and then trying to sell to them (blackmailing them into taking it at a high price), or cyber squatting, buying a domain or anything else domain (squat typo) and perform dishonest activities impersonating the real company online. World Intellectual Property Organization made this illegal in 1999, although interpretation and implementation may vary by country.
Big corporate interest in Web 3 hasn’t heated up yet, and as you can see, Adidas still has several available Web 3 domain names unsecured, although the provider in this case, Unstoppable Domains, has had the good sense to limit them and tag them as “protected”, to avoid liability if they sell it to a customer.
Unstoppable Domains is the current market leader in Web 3 domains. The second largest player is Handshake Domains, which operates through distributors of which Namecheap seems to have the most visibility. Unlike Web1/2, regulated by IANA/ICANN, anyone can join at any time, start their own blockchain (or collaborate with one) and create their own Web 3 domain service offering new TLDs (Third Level Domains) . This has the potential to deflate the Web 3 resale domain in the same way that the explosion in AI-generated artwork is at risk of affecting virtual art collectibles.
SUMMARY:
Look at what you want to do in the BoT (Blockchain of Things) space. Try to spend on only what can give you a function.
I am buying MATIC, the native crypto on the Polygon chain, because I have functional things going on with that chain, and if I have to get smart contracts, or dApps, or other services, I have to pay for them in MATIC. I don’t have a lot, but just as much, since it’s a chain that more and more things are built on, and my UD domain is there… the activity is increasing, so the value is not going to crash. DeSo is also worth a look. (Credit Albert Baldwin)
You can also buy cryptocurrency just to pay for other things, if using FIAT is less convenient for you for some reason. Best not to buy more than you need to shop.
Stay away from collectibles unless you can appreciate them aesthetically and you can afford them.
If you’ve reached a level of financial independence that allows you to indulge, then by all means build your own collection of virtual collectibles if they make you “feel good.” But remember that this requires a mentality that dismisses the investment cost as “past” and henceforth sees them from the subjective value you place on them because of the “feelgood factor” and not because they will make money if you sell them. Don’t spend your children’s future school fees on them, think that it will be money for them when they reach the age.
Avoid collecting collections of Web 3 domains.
If you have been around for a while in the related business, and you as a customer are familiar with the processes of using domain registration and hosting services, then you will be familiar with this. You think of what seems like a great domain name and you register it. This happens a few times a year, the renewal costs increase. You never seem to be able to get purpose clarified, and then content consistent with purpose, at the same pace as the domain name accumulation.
We are truly in the BoT and a long way from Web 3 becoming a working reality. Accumulating ‘collections’ of Web 3 domain names is probably not a good idea. There is no point in having a lot of blockchain assets sitting around doing nothing. Again, it depends on your level of financial independence. If one can afford to be indulgent, there are worse things to spend money on than Web 3 domains. I would suggest 1-3 domains. One for business. One for personal identity, a third for some standalone activity best kept separate from 1 and 2. But any number less than 3 works!
The point is to choose the tool for the job, not the job for the tool!
All electronic references available 21-08-22:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Intellectual_Property_Organization
smartchoicedomains.com/2019/04/29/domain-flipping-3-common-mistakes-of-domain-flippers-and-how-to-avoid-them
unstoppabledomains.com
moneyhaat.com/technology/unstoppable-domains-which-offers-nft-domains-as-a-personal-identifier-across-web3-apps-raised-a-65m-series-a-led-by-pantera-capital- at-a-1b-valuation-mk-manoylov-the-block/
namecheap.com
deso.org
learnbirdwatching.com/birds-that-are-attracted-to-shiny-objects
moneycrashers.com/most-valuable-expensive-types-collectibles
linkedin.com/posts/john-mc-keown-nigeria-expert_beyond-crypto-fintech-and-defiis-africa-activity-6909476843259576320-2vqO?
neatorama.com/2008/05/14/neatoramas-guide-to-25-of-the-strangest-collections-on-the-web/
linkedin.com/in/johnkraski/
linkedin.com/in/victor-akujuo/
linkedin.com/in/albert-baldwin-83bb7aa/
