After finding a fit for digital collectibles outside the blockchain realm, Genies is bringing its customizable 3D avatars to a partnership with Dapper Labs.
The collaboration with the team behind CryptoKitties and now NBA Top Shot is seen by Genies as a way to introduce Gen Z-ers to the blockchain.
“Dapper Labs was perfect for us to be able to further educate our young users,” Genies founder Akash Nigam told CoinDesk in an interview.
Genies has established itself as an avatar company that brings celebrities closer to their fans, one digital representation at a time. With the pandemic, Nigam said there are now more incentives for influencers to virtually interact with their fans. Think of it as a way to make up for all those canceled concerts, sporting events and meetings.
Last week, for example, singer Justin Bieber announced her Christmas album on Twitter via her Genie.
Nigam said that once Genies is up and running on Flow, the new blockchain built by Dapper Labs to escape Ethereum’s scale constraints, Bieber could, for example, issue a number of Santa Claus hats signed with his own. Christmas scrapbook ad. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digitally unique and can be sold and traded between users.
“Justin Bieber already sells vintage collectibles to his fans,” said Nigam. “We are just extrapolating what they already do in the physical world and bringing it into the digital world.”
Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, added that users don’t need to know the specifics of blockchain technology to understand true ownership.
“If something is on the blockchain, you own it and you can sell it. If not, you don’t control anything,” Gharegozlou told CoinDesk during a call.
Mechanisms on how to bring existing digital assets or users to the blockchain are still in the works. But what will be different is that users, not just celebrities, will be able to create their own avatars and thus own a piece of their characters online. (It’s a direction Genies also recently took in releasing a software development kit used by the likes of Giphy and Gucci.)
“Today we allow you to customize your username. In the future we want to allow you to personalize your digital identity, “said Gharegozlou.
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