Get smart about NFTs with John T. Meyer

Megan Raposa -

No Fun Team Founder John T. Meyer wants to help people better understand NFTs (aka non-fungible tokens). We chatted with him about some of the ways he foresees NFTs showing up in Sioux Falls and learned about something called a "Chromie Squiggle."

Answers are direct quotes from Meyer.

How did you ‘get smart’ about NFTs – i.e. what in your background or in your own research/activities prepared you for your job today?

Unless you are an artist or a developer, very little would prepare you to understand NFTs.

  • I am neither of these, but the space did feel like a tangent off of the work we were doing at Lemonly.

My introduction to NFTs came in January 2021 in the form of NBA TopShot, the NBA’s digital collectible card platform.

  • It reminded me of trading baseball cards when I was a kid.
  • Then I bought and sold a few NFTs that summer, made some money which is always fun, and decided to dive in. From there it was podcasts, newsletters, and joining many NFT communities to ask questions and try to soak up as much information as possible.

We’re all about simplicity here. Can you describe what an NFT is in 10 words or less?

A database file that can assign ownership to digital assets.

What’s something people most often misunderstand about your job or about NFTs/cryptocurrency? (And, if you could politely correct them, what would you say?)

It’s not just jpegs!

  • Today NFTs are art, but also membership, tickets, equity ownership, and keys.
  • Tomorrow NFTs will be the deed to your house, your college diploma, or your electronic medical record.

What’s your favorite NFT that you have in your wallet right now?

Definitely my Chromie Squiggle. This project is one of the first generative art pieces. I know it looks like my 6-year-old drew it, but it was made by a computer. I think this will be worth $1 million someday.

How do you predict we’ll start seeing more NFTs show up in Sioux Falls?

The best use-case we’ve seen thus far is membership or access.

  • So imagine a Fernson NFT that gets you early release beers or The Great Outdoor Store offers a VIP NFT to their best customers with discounts and special products. It’s still early for the SMBs out there, but very soon (looks like in September) you’ll see Starbucks roll out their NFT strategy. This will likely be the first NFT for millions of Americans.

What’s your advice for someone who wants to learn more about NFTs/cryptocurrency?

The best way to learn is to get your hands dirty.

  • I recommend downloading a wallet (Coinbase or Metamask), buy some ethereum (the cryptocurrency for 90% of NFTs), and then purchase an NFT on OpenSea (the marketplace for NFTs, think of it like eBay).

If all of that seemed like a foreign language, follow me on Instagram for my series called the ABC’s of NFTs and subscribe to our weekly newsletter called The Mint which explores what NFTs are and how they’ll be used both today and in the future.

How do you spend your time when you’re not thinking about/working with NFTs?

I’m always thinking of new business ideas and companies I want to start, but my time is best spent with my two daughters, Margot (6) and Liv (3), and my lovely wife Paige. I love running outdoors and am a fantasy baseball nerd.

Anything else you want the people of Sioux Falls to know about you, your job or NFTs?

If anyone wants to understand NFTs, crypto, or blockchain better, just shoot me an email at john@nofunteam.com.