For much of 2021, NFTs were seen as either a scam, a means for money laundering, or some internet fad that would surely pass. The masses saw NFTs as a little JPEG image and grew confused as 6 and 7 figure sales were being made and making headlines. However, as the year progressed and now into 2022, we’re seeing a major shift. Just as the world once thought that the internet would be useless before evolving into what we know today, the same is happening in this digital metaverse space. Now, we see huge fortune 500 companies entering the metaverse and leveraging NFT technology. Nike purchased RTFKT studious (pronounced artifact) and created digital versions of sneakers. Adidas collaborated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club, one of the largest NFTs in the space, and then followed up with launching their own NFT. The NBA offered historical moments in the form of NFTs. We see major music artists selling their music on the blockchain. Celebrities like Snoop Dogg are buying land in the metaverse. Disney is even announcing plans to move into the digital space. And it’s becoming more and more clear that this new digital space is no fad & it’s now growing faster than ever. We’re quickly seeing a broader mass adoption, and it’s time to start paying attention if you haven’t been already.
NFTs in the form of little cartoon images were just the proof of concept for the underlying technology. The metaverse was once just a nebulous buzz word without any known utility. But the reason we’re now seeing big business enter the space, is because of the valuable technology and infinite scalability. It is very likely that every single industry that we see in our physical world, will be duplicated in a different form within the metaverse. We see the home in Florida being sold as an NFT and companies offering digital homes for sale to put on your digital land. We listened to the president of the UFC, Dana White, recently say on the Full Send Podcast that he’s working on hosting fight nights in the metaverse to bring the live experience to many that couldn’t have attended before. This will inevitably spread to all sporting events and take many different forms.
One of the more innovative examples of this crossover into the sports world is a new NFT and P2E metaverse project called Silks, whose mission is to bring the real world of thoroughbred horse racing into the digital realm by creating a derivative economy and ownership experience for the average fan. Silks saw traditional horse racing as a massively popular and lucrative industry, but also one that was ripe for disruption utilizing the emerging technologies. Looking at the numbers, thoroughbreds sell for an average of $60,000 with an annual maintenance cost of about $40,000. There are over 30,000 races per year with over 50 million people betting on these races, wagering roughly $11 billion. With billions on the line in betting and hundreds of millions in prizes and breeding, there’s clearly a lot at stake. But imagine if you were a horse racing enthusiast who wanted to experience the thrill of thoroughbred ownership without the exorbitant costs. Imagine if you could own the digital version of a real thoroughbred racehorse and earn financial rewards based on its racing success. This is precisely what Silks aims to achieve
By utilizing NFT and metaverse technology, Silks wants to democratize the world of thoroughbred horse racing ownership by giving the masses the closest thing to it without the huge upfront investment and allowing them to get involved in a way they’ve never been able to before. By leveraging real thoroughbred horse racing data which tracks a horse’s lineage and training productivity, Silks is able to create a game, an economy, and a hybrid experience where everything that transpires in its virtual ecosystem is derived from the results on the track IRL. Further, Silks will provide a platform where participants can pinhook (trade) and syndicate (fractionalize) horses, allowing its community to strategically capitalize on their value or diversify their risk.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Silks also plans to sell land and stables in its metaverse in the future, creating an intricate ecosystem of long-term gameplay with potentially lucrative earnings for early adopters and those who can master its game. All told, this offers a unique spin on the already incredibly popular play- to- earn model in blockchain gaming and bridges a massive industry from the physical world to the digital.
Silks is a brilliant example of the evolution of this space, and we’ll continue to see others emerge in adjacent verticals to transform the world as we know it. Now imagine if you somehow went back in time to the 1990’s when the internet was a new and strange place. We’re in that exact moment in time, but now you can make the decision to get involved while there’s still such incredible opportunities presenting themselves.