Diamonds and Dollar Bills

Lately, it seems that my mind is always processing Metaverse ideas and perspectives in the background of my subconscious. One morning earlier this week, my wife brought up needing to resize her wedding band. It immediately led to my questioning of the root of the diamond obsession in our culture and its parallel to understanding the value of NFTs, which I initially began to explore in?An Open Source Framework for Utility.

Value can be a tricky endeavor no matter how you approach it. Value requires a context and a community of subscribers. So, how did diamonds become so valuable? According to?The Loupe, it came down to controlling supply and one heck of a marketing campaign. De Beers bought all the mines and controlled the supply and release of diamonds into the market. They also constructed a large marketing effort to displace rubies and sapphires as the gem of choice for engagement rings. From there, it was up to network effects. One man bought a diamond ring for his girlfriend, and she showed it to her friends, who then showed it to their friends, and so on. As history unfolded, diamonds became the standard with a large community of subscribers. Is value is an imaginary construct? What about the United States Dollar (USD)? I am not a currency expert, but some would say the value of USD is calculated by exchange rates, the demand for treasury notes, and the foreign exchange reserves. Others would simply state that its value is dictated by the demand for it. Even with these two symbols that are ingrained into our culture, calculating value is still pretty complicated.

Many still dismiss NFTs with a smile and a quip about the absurdity of owning a JPEG. The value is not in the JPEG itself, necessarily.?The value is in the process and technology that allows the encapsulation and automation of a digital asset.?NFTs allow creators to draw a border around a digital asset, create rules for its use, and track its journey and interactions across different domains. Today, we are merely witnessing tests and experiments for potential use cases of this technology. The results will continue to feed new ideas creating more meaning and utility for these assets. Robust communities with authentic and meaningful engagement will bring value to these unique assets and their interaction.

Stay tuned?… we are still early.?