Marina del Rey, CA, June 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been making headlines recently with million dollar art auctions, digital trading card sales, and celebrity offerings. Many not only expect this trend to continue, but to also expand into social media and online content creation. All eyes are now on BitClout, a crypto social network where users can buy and sell unique tokens based on people’s reputations.
Capitalizing on first mover advantage, BitClout pre-launched in March, setting Twitter abuzz when a slew of celebrities and influencers suddenly began tweeting about the hitherto unrevealed project. Early adopter high-profile users include Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian, Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya, celebrity Pamela Anderson and internet personality and influencer James Charles.
In addition to attracting high-profile individuals, it also is backed by an impressive lineup of premier investors including Silicon Valley royalty Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Crypto focused investors include Coinbase Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arrington Capital, Polychain, Pantera, Digital Currency Group (CoinDesk’s parent company), and Huobi. A Bitcoin wallet connected to BitClout has received more than $165 million worth of Bitcoin, suggesting the depth of backing behind the burgeoning crypto social network.
Why is there so much excitement about BitClout? Well, BitClout is essentially focused on letting users invest in people like they would companies. It aims to allow celebrities, content creators, and influencers to directly monetize their online reputation. In the app, unique “creator coins” are assigned to high-profile individuals which can be bought or sold. The value of any given creator coin will rise and fall depending on the popularity of the corresponding individual. Just like if you had invested in Apple 30 years ago, if you believe in a budding celebrity/creator/influencer, you can invest in them early and earn returns as the individual becomes more famous and the coins become more valuable.
BitClout is attracting rising crypto personalities, online content creators, influencers, and savvy celebrities that wish to leverage their popularity on their own terms. Mario Nawfal, a serial entrepreneur turned crypto leader and business influencer, is the ideal demographic. A self-made millionaire through several global brands, he followed the crypto space personally, finally entering professionally in 2017 by establishing International Blockchain Consulting (IBC). As an influencer, he founded “The Roundtable,” the biggest Clubhouse room for business with over 10,000 listeners daily and the biggest space on Twitter.
Mario sees a bright future for BitClout. “Once again crypto is evolving a legacy system that was clunky. Advertising, number of views, donations, subscriptions, endorsements, these are all ways high-profile individuals and their fans/supporters interacted financially. With BitClout none of that is going away, but it can supplement or replace those mechanisms when necessary. For example, aspiring users can frictionlessly leverage their reputation, giving them more time to create compelling content or focus on whatever makes them valuable.” Mario is even more excited for fans and supporters because, “now they have a direct way to show their support and share in the high-profile individual’s success.”
Mario is so confident in the future of BitClout, with it’s bevy of tier-1 backers, that he’s going “all in.” He’s carving time out of his schedule and utilizing his growth agency to develop his BitClout account. Mario also says that interest from celebrities and influencers has been increasing. “It’s amazing. I’m finding more and more questions about what BitClout is and how one can get in on it. Not only am I launching myself on the platform, I’m assisting an increasing number of celebrities and influencers too.”
However, as with all things in life, many cynics have offered their criticisms and doubts about BitClout. For example, let’s look at how BitClout launched with 15,000 of the most popular Twitter profiles without owner consent. Critics are also concerned that currently funds can be deposited into the platform, but not withdrawn. Mario sees problems like these as normal growing pains of any explosive startup. “The consent problem sounds bad until you realize that it’s to protect high-profile users and user-investors from scammers that might try to impersonate a celebrity or influencer.”
About the second problem, Mario laughs. “This is pure FUD. Look at the backers. How can anyone be worried about the ability to withdraw funds when two of the most prominent crypto exchanges, Coinbase and Gemini’s Winklevoss twins, are investors?”
Despite the misgivings of some, Mario is certain that with people like himself and his growing list of clients onboard, BitClout will continue its early momentum on the path to viral adoption, eventually reaching critical mass. This is clearly an exciting new space that many are finding valuable and it appears inevitable that NFTs will only continue to play an important role in the online world.
Ross Davis
Global Crypto Press
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