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Digital Identity
Over the past year, while contributing to the Web3 space, it's led me to have a few thoughts about our digital identities, their value, and what becomes your personal brand.
In 2017 while working for a digital agency, I was placed on a project utilizing a new technology called the Blockchain. I had no idea what the “Blockchain” was nor did I realize the significant real-world use cases it solved. While researching, the apparent use cases emerged around money, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts. But digital identity stood out as the holy grail that tied universes together. Enter CryptoKitties and my realization of what could become turned into when it would become…
Identity as a trait, not a project
If you’ve followed me, you might have recognized a specific trait I have adopted as a piece of my identity.
This VR headset-looking trait is called the Chain Space Deck Elite II. It was a trait I discovered in the Chain Runners in early 2021 when they minted their genesis collection. As soon as I saw the trait it resonated with me, which I can get into in a different post.
I love and support all artists and projects as a believer and investor. I believe that if you follow someone, you support them, no matter the project. For this reason, I have specifically tied myself to a trait that can be changed, like a chameleon across any project spreading the love and true Web3 ethos.
Interoperabile Identity
We are beginning to see the first examples of on-chain interoperable avatars emerge that tie together our digital universe. Projects such as Hologram, CloneX, Chain Runners, Deadfellas, and the latest Meta Avatars all provide previews of what's to come. Imagine a world where your identity allows you to select the character, shoes, shirt, and environment all via NFTs you have minted…
Example RTFKT Cryptokicks and NFT
Interoperability mimics how we operate in the real world enabled by these areas
IDENTITY for connecting individuals to assets and rights
3D RENDERINGS for displaying the world
BEHAVIORS for characterizing objects
DATA SHARING for sharing ownership and permissions
Consumers will be able to bring their wallets and smart objects into these virtual worlds, just as they bring their credit cards and backpacks across stores today. Knav from the Chain Runners has a great quote here…
“With a digital identity, you can become who you want to be, which may or may not reflect who you are in real life. We wanted an individual to be able to find a Runner they identified with and become that Runner.”
The Identity Ecosystem
The blockchain identity ecosystem expands far past NFTs into exciting concepts such as ENS, SIWE, PoH, POAPs, and SBTs which Vitalik the creator of Ethereum recently wrote about here…
"Identity" is a complicated concept that can mean many things. Some examples include:
Basic authentication: simply proving that action A (eg. sending a transaction or logging into a website) was authorized by some agent that has some identifier, such as an ETH address or a public key, without attempting to say anything else about who or what the agent is.
Attestations: proving claims about an agent made by other agents ("Bob attests that he knows Alice", "the government of Canada attests that Charlie is a citizen")
Names: establishing consensus that a particular human-readable name can be used to refer to a particular agent.
Proof of personhood: proving that an agent is human, and guaranteeing that each human can only obtain one identity through the proof of personhood system (this is often done with attestations, so it's not an entirely separate category, but it's a hugely important special case)
Thinking about this on-chain is one thing but bringing it to the masses is a task that requires thoughtful integrations into our devices. Apple has previewed digital driver's licenses and digital vehicle keys already. Maybe the possibility of the Wallet integration is sooner than we think.
Everything on planet earth ties back to our identity as the central hub that the world interacts. It is the single response location for our Profile, Passport, Bank, Drivers license, Access, Friends portal, Coupons, Events attended poaps, Rewards across games.
I look forward to a future without passwords, physical wallets, and keys and welcome imaginative possibilities enabled by the blockchain.
Follow me on Twitter. I will post a follow-up with a few 1/1 custom clothing designs and a limited edition 1/1 mint in the coming week, as mentioned in my previous 1337 Skull post.
1337
What an exciting few weeks it’s been working on the 1337 Skulls project. An art project built by community members who are deeply immersed in the cc0 and on-chain Web3 culture. Skulls for the communities 💀💀💀
Before I dive in, I wanted to thank Flashrekt for inviting me to be 532 in 1337. It’s been an absolute honor to work with this team made up of 51991eth, Skominers, 0xDith, Maniinng, kamtang, Cham_boss, epikur, quantized, WrongNebula, monno. The conversations in our 532 channel are inspiring and innovative. None of this would be possible without creative cc0 projects, especially ones like Blitmap and the Chain Runners where we all met.
What is 1337?
1337 Skulls is a collection of 7,331 pixel art skulls, deployed fully on-chain with a public domain license. 600+ traits created from new, original art and referencing 30+ existing cc0 NFT projects. Free mint. 0% royalties. No roadmap. Just 1337. The origin story of 1337 can be seen here.
This is more than a collection of 7,331-pixel art images. This group of passionate creatives pushes art and innovation forward through cc0 and on-chain endeavors. I’ve seen every team member in other discord servers, sharing galleries, and enthusiastic about these beliefs. Quantized summarized it best here…
“1337 Skulls is the first project to elegantly integrate a whole culture of CC0 art into a single package... made by people who are deeply immersed and enmeshed in that culture”
What does 1337 mean?
Leet (or "1337"), also known as leet or leetspeak, is a system of modified spellings used primarily on the Internet.
A derivative of the 80's software piracy scene. Originally "elite" was used to show status on a BBS. Commonly the people who cracked the software, or had sysop access on a board would be referred to as Elite. Later it became common to just use "leet." With the internet explosion, it was later used to describe hackers as well as crackers. Due to it being great to be known as leet, newbies started adopting the term and using it to describe themselves, often with numerical variations.
More sound bites are open-sourced on our website.
What makes 1337 special?
Art, Technology, Culture. No more, no less. If you're a collector of art, technology, and innovative experiences then 1337 is for you. 0xDith summarized it best here…
Love pixel art & on-chain art
Know what cc0 is & believe in it
Love internet subculture and obscure memes
Don't care about price go up or down
Without getting too technical, the below image visualizes what makes this NFT so unique. Without pointing to the prominent such as Cryptopunks, Nouns, and Chain Runners as all innovative on-chain projects.
1337 is a centralization of history into a single project delivering visuals as on-chain code to the Ethereum blockchain, not simply jpgs living on a server.
1337 culture and open source
Everything we do is public domain and open-sourced to enable and inspire Web3. 1337 is a movement driven by a community passionate about cc0, on-chain, and subculture. We open-sourced everything from our visuals and sounds to the mint strategy, free for all. We hope to inspire the 1337 meme and content culture by providing these assets.
Future 1337
Our mission continues as a group of artists, strategists, and Web3 enthusiasts. 1337 will continue to communicate, contribute, and inspire the broader Web3 ecosystem into the future. This project has helped place a spotlight on the ongoing cc0 conversation. Articles, threads, and discussions about cc0 are being had, leading to new beginnings and inevitable innovations. Do we design systems for cc0, education playbooks for brands, and all ideas are 1337.
Important Links
Read more about cc0 here: https://a16zcrypto.com/cc0-nft-creative-commons-zero-license-rights/
Checkout our open-sourced content here.
Join the 1337 community Discord and follow me on Twitter, I will post a follow-up with a few 1/1 custom clothing designs in the coming week.
Process to Product
I haven't purchased clothing from a store in over a year…
I've become bored of the same old brands lacking personality, which reignited my interest in making clothes for myself.
Putting my artwork and the NFT artwork I own onto apparel and shoes has sparked great conversations. The response has been immediate and inspiring enough for me to add a few items to this website. So what does the process to product look like?
PALETTE SHOES
The story of this product design…
Outside of my daily job in software design, I enjoy creative projects: light installations, painting, or anything I can craft by hand. Through the years of painting, I’ve noticed a recurring question. “Where can I get some shoes with paint on them?” It sounds odd initially, but there is a genuine interest in paint-splattered shoes and apparel, which is why I created the E1 PALETTE SHOES.
CREATIVE TEE
The story of this product design…
Humans are becoming device zombies, and Instagram has explicitly played a role in this content injection into our lives. I know, I know, that's a little extreme, but I do feel constant content consumption impacts our minds and our ability to think of new ideas. The word CREATIVE with the spray paint crossed out in Instagram colors represents how social media has killed the creative the symbolism of D1 CREATIVE T-SHIRT.
I've been having a blast making clothes for myself, experimenting with CC0 and IP rights, and exploring new mediums. Who knows what comes of these ideas, but for now, I'm enjoying not having to go to the store ;)
As a thank you for reading my blog, enter the word BLOG at checkout to receive FREE SHIPPING.
Digital Asset Tools
If you're anything like me, you love finding new tools to help make your life easier. Over the past year, I've been using a few different NFT tools to help me manage my portfolio, and I'm sharing these tools to help others improve their approach to creating and managing NFTs. Not my usual content, but providing education is worth the write-up.
View from our internal curation and minting tools that are not publicly available.
Creating
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Description: The First No-Code Tool for On-Chain NFT Collections.
Cost: Mint
Why I use this tool: Indelible offers the best no-code tool for shipping on-chain NFT collections. This means the artwork is not a jpg but a code stored on the blockchain. Easy to use and understand by setting your files up with trait layers.
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Description: No-Code Tools for NFT Creators
Cost: Paid
Why I use this tool: While Indelible is focused on on-chain NFTs Bueno offers an easy-to-use tool for standard png, jpg, NFT collections. Bueno has been building out an impressive all-in-one experience that I look forward to seeing advance for creatives in the space.
Managing
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Description: Simple NFT floor price alerts. Easily track all your NFTs and receive real-time email alerts.
URL: https://nftfloorprice.info
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: A very simple tool to set price alerts around any collection. I like to use this tool for getting alerts on when to BUY (low) and SELL (high) NFTs.
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Description: Save yourself from listing your investments at a loss. Enter a transaction hash/id above to view the transaction details and derisk the amount.
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: This always comes in handy when you need to quickly list an NFT for sale. Another simple tool to help de-risk your investments by calculating your list prices based on investment costs.
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Description: Introducing the Floor app — the best way to stay connected to your NFT collections and assets.
Cost: Mint
Why I use this tool: Convenient way to watch and track collection floor prices on mobile.
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Description: Your all-in-one platform for trading NFTs. Find, analyze, auto-bid and fast-buy the best NFTs on the market
URL: https://nftinit.com/
Cost: Paid
Why I use this tool: Day trader all in one tool.
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Description: DeFi & NFT Pro Analytics. Live Tick and Market Data. Adv. Charting w/ Contract Data. NFT Price History. Optimized Trade Execution.
Cost: Paid
Why I use this tool: Introduced to me by Donchian Systems (little alpha). This has continued to be one of my favorite tools to use to monitor channels and trends across collections.
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Description: Real-time minting alerts and insights.
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: Initially, I was using Icy tools and Gem to see collections minting. Degenmint, I enjoy a little more because of the live UI and the ability to see groups minting new collections. Bonus it’s free.
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Description: Rarity Sniper is the best way to check the rarity of 1919 NFT collections on Ethereum, Solana & more
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: Straightforward. It just works. Unfortunately, not all collections are covered; I will use traitsniper or raritysniffer as a fallback.
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Description: Blockchain ecosystem analytics by and for the community. Explore and share data from Ethereum, xDai, Polygon, Optimism, BSC and Solana for free.
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: Data and analytics are critical when trading. Build custom dashboards for watching projects visually.
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Description: Your go-to destination for Web3 Social Intelligence. Connect with your NFT community, analyze community growth, see where influential people are moving, and more.
URL: https://www.nftinspect.xyz
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: Understanding NFT accounts and social engagement at a deeper level can help with your investment NFT decisions.
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Description: Twitter Picker is a free tool that lets you create contests and select winners from a tweet using our retweet picker.
URL: https://twitterpicker.com
Cost: Free
Why I use this tool: A simple tool that enables you to create Twitter giveaways and select the winners transparently.
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Description: Create galleries across all chains highlighting your NFT collections.
URL: https://deca.art
Cost: Mint
Why I use this tool: For me, the most powerful aspect of this tool is the ability to create galleries of my NFTs collected across all chains. That means I can create galleries with my ETH and TEZOS NFTs.
I’ve purposely left out many other tools to focus on the ones I believe add daily value for managing your NFT portfolio. I hope this post helps you. Please give me a follow on TWITTER or subscribe to my newsletter below.
Light of Consciousness
Light of Consciousness is my latest artwork collection containing ( 12 ) 1/1 pieces of Digital and Physical artwork. I created this blog post to highlight the what, why, and share some previews.
I've been fascinated with light and human interaction throughout my career. Looking back on the physical pieces I've produced over the years, many of them have contained light as the medium. At the core, the artwork is about self-expression, a voice from the soul, and the messages the creator wants to share with the viewers. Remembering back to past gallery shows, the light artwork would always produce a more profound reaction leading to a deeper conversation around meaning. Here are a few pieces of light artwork I've created over the years…
The collection, Light of Consciousness, is an exploration of light. Shapes, ideas, and stories inspired by questions. Each piece represents a different connection between light and human existence. A few questions I’m interested in and asked along the way while creating the artwork…
Why are humans drawn to light? Is light connected to happiness? Can light improve mental health? Is light connected to happiness? Why do we wake up and function during the day and sleep at night?
Each and every piece has an extensive process associated with it to bring the Digital or Physical artwork to life. Draw, illustrate, animate, process liquid motion, layer, loop, and mint.
With all digital assets, I used four programs each to create the visual effects, such as the one below, to represent my ideas about humans and light. The physical artwork went a step further by creating LED-coded animations and experimenting with rainbow light effects before turning them into digital assets.
As you can see from this post, I’m interested in further exploring the connection between light and human consciousness. This is the first of what I hope to be many art collections to come in the future.
If you took the time to read this post, thank you. Feel free to reach out with further questions, collaborations, or to share feedback.
Buy Light of Consciousness on Foundation
CC0 Experiments
This post highlights a few fun experimental products I recently published that are made possible by CC0 creative commons licensing. More specifically the ability to design and develop customizable products for the communities I’m a part of, such as the Howlerz, OKPC, and Chain Runners. Holders of the NFTs in these communities can customize each design by providing the token ID to make a unique 1/1 shoe tailored only for them.
These products are examples of the possibilities enabled by CC0 and IP licensing in the Web3 space, a hot topic of daily conversation. Should the general public even care about these topics? That's a conversation for another day, but I hope my experiments highlight the possibilities. Read more about CC0 and IP in these recently published articles.
→ The Power of Public Domain in Web3