Quick take:
- YouTube has added Web3 and NFTs in the latest creator tools update.
- The video streaming platform will now allow creators to turn their short-form videos into non-fungible tokens.
- The company said blockchain and NFTs could help creators develop deeper relationships with their fans.
The non-fungible token (NFT) craze continues to revolutionize the content industry after the world’s largest video streaming and publisher platform YouTube added NFTs to creator tools in the latest update.
In a letter to creators published last month, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that the company was looking at NFTs as a way to help creators increase their income.
“The past year in the world of crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) has highlighted a previously unimaginable opportunity to grow the connection between creators and their fans,” she wrote in a letter dated Jan 25.
On Thursday, that promise came to fruition after YouTube introduced NFTs and Web3 to the latest creator tools, allowing YouTubers to monetize short-form videos by minting them as NFTs and selling them to the community.
Writing in a blog post, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan highlighted the growing popularity of short-form videos on the platform saying “YouTube Shorts have now enjoyed over 5T all-time views.”
YouTube Shorts is the streaming giant’s alternative to TikTok and Instagram Reels. The company is adding more creator tools that will enable creators to reply to comments with short videos, a common feature used on TikTok.
Announcing the addition of Web3, the term used to refer to the latest iteration of the internet, Mohan said it new applications built on the decentralised web can bring more opportunities to creators.
“We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans,” he said, adding that together, “they’ll be able to collaborate on new projects and make money in ways not previously possible.”
YouTube has been revamping its creator compensation models over the years, adding Super Chat and Membership features along the way.
The addition of NFTs opens new boundaries of opportunities. However, Mohan cautioned “there’s a lot to consider in making sure we approach these new technologies responsibly.”
YouTube is not the only platform offering creators an opportunity to monetise short-form videos using NFTs, last month, India’s short-form video marketplace Chingari launched an NFT marketplace that lets Bollywood celebrities offer their content to fans as NFTs.
And on Thursday, Pearpop launched Pearproof a Web3 app that will let creators mint their content and offer it to fans as viral NFTs.
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