By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 17th, 2024
There are no clear details regarding when YouTube might add NFT features. However, the platform sees Web3 as “a source of inspiration” and considers DAOs as a great opportunity to grow the connection between creators and their fans.
As the world is observing the growing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), video-sharing and social media platform YouTube wants to take advantage of the technology as well. As YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stated in his letter to content creators, one of the prior goals set for 2022 is expanding the YouTube ecosystem with integrating emerging technologies like NFT.
Susan Wojcicki explained:
“We’re also looking further ahead to the future and have been following everything happening in Web3 as a source of inspiration to continue innovating on YouTube. 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.”
Currently, YouTube offers about 10 ways for creators to monetize their business. They include are ads, shorts, channel memberships, merchandise, and more. As Wojcicki has highlighted, creators around the world benefit from these expanded opportunities and enjoy updates the platform is constantly adding to its features.
There are no clear details regarding when YouTube might add NFT features. However, the platform sees Web3 as “a source of inspiration” and considers DAOs as a great opportunity to grow the connection between creators and their fans.
Colin Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO of metaverse startup Animal Concerts, commented on YouTube’s initiative:
“If YouTube is going to facilitate NFTs on their platform, it is possible that demonetizing content creators is something they are forced into by their advertising partners. Introducing NFTs could be a way for them to circumvent corporate interests and give their users alternative methods to generate revenue.”
With YouTube being the largest ever content community worldwide, antering NFT space would indeed bring the platform even more popularity and give its creators more opportinities for making money.
YouTube’s 2021 Updates
In the letter, Susan Wojcicki highlighted the achievements of the platform for last year. In particular, YouTube CEO mentioned pre-publish checks that allow to see if there are issues with copyright or ad-suitability before publishing, update of the advertiser-friendly guidelines, as well as milestones in music and gaming. Last year, YouTube passed 50 million Music and Premium subscribers and saw over 800 billion gaming-related views, over 90 million hours live streamed, and over 250 million uploads. Furthermore, YouTube continued making efforts in education. In particular, it launched the Mi Aula channels in México and Argentina in partnership with UNESCO with a view to provide students with videos that support the secondary curriculum in their countries.