- Shopify has added a store feature which will bring greater utility to NFT creators and holders
- Token-gating is a practice that allows only verified owners of NFTs or other tokens access to content related to them
- Allowing only verified owners of tokens access to merchandise and other content brings real value that has otherwise been missing to NFT ownership
Shopify has added a store feature which will bring greater utility to NFT creators and holders. Known as token-gating, the feature allows NFT creators to allow exclusive access to merchandise and content based on verifying ownership of NFTs. This development will move the NFT world further into the web 3.0 space while opening up opportunities for NFT producers. This development combined with the endorsement by a global giant like Shopify is a nod that will be appreciated by NFT creators in Africa who are looking for ways to cash in on the frenzy.
Token-gating
Token-gating is a practice that allows only verified owners of NFTs or other tokens access to content related to them. NFTs, built for the web 3.0 world, are in a strange space in the current web 2.0 internet. Allowing only verified owners of tokens access to merchandise and other content brings real value that has otherwise been missing to NFT ownership.
Read: Africans join the US$21.5 billion NFT party
NFT owners are for example granted access to media such as music, video or physical products such as merchandise based on the NFT. An African NFT creator could grant the opportunity to purchase merchandise based on the NFT to only people who own an NFT from the collection.
Shopify bets big on NFTs
With total 2019 gross merchandise volumes of over US$61 billion, Shopify can undoubtedly lay claim to being one of the world’s largest eCommerce platforms.
Shopify already allows for NFT commerce through its platform and the addition of token gating widens the appeal and utility to NFT owners. Token gating is facilitated by enabling users to connect their cryptocurrency wallets to the shop for verification of ownership.
Examples of Token gating
Examples of token gating are popping up all over the world. Friends with Benefits is a community built on a private Discord server. The community offers exclusive access to holders of 75 Friends With Benefits ($FWB) tokens.
Stoner Cats is an adult-oriented animated streaming show. To watch the show one must be an owner of at least one NFT in the Stoner Cats collection. Token gating is being applied to music, event tickets, physical merchandise and community access amongst other functions.
Everybody Wins
The benefits are on both sides of the NFT aisle. Customers get access to these extras for ownership and can join projects from the ground up without paying subscriptions. This partners them with creators in getting projects off the ground and allows them to share in the success.
Creators gain access control to the added extras while also receiving secondary royalties on things like merchandise. Above all, everybody in the markets benefits from NFTs that are more useful to the communities they are created for.
This development will likely usher in more widespread attention to the NFT landscape in Africa and soon we could be talking about some major token gating projects. With blockchain and NFTs being taken up by large communities like football clubs it doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see how token gating could be the next big conversation in web 3.0 for Africa.
Read: Cryptocurrency offers hope for Africa’s economic resurgence
