This list is a collection of NFT introductory resources compiled by a16z for all NFT creators, issuers, platforms, communities and other organizations. Here, you can quickly learn and understand NFT’s vision, application, technology, category, and derivative concepts such as social token, DAO, creator economy, etc. from the macro to the micro.
This list will continue to be updated. Readers can go to the a16z official website (https://a16z.com/) to submit to their official mailbox.
Who is a16z: Well-known Silicon Valley venture capital, founded two years after the release of the original iPhone, in the wave of mobile Internet, this venture capital firm quickly ranked among the most successful VCs in Silicon Valley by virtue of successful investment cases such as Instagram, Twitter and Skype . Since 2013, he has been deeply involved in the field of encrypted digital assets for more than 6 years, and is one of the first famous venture capitalists to participate in this industry.
table of Contents
Vision and philosophy
Getting Started and Guide
technical foundation
Art, music, games, apps, and creators
Social pass, community pass and personal pass
Creator DAO and Creator Economy
NFT ecology, market and common problems
Market ranking
Newsletter and Social Review
Origins: Origins, early-form collections and games
Vision and philosophy
Non-homogeneous life: the evolution of ownership consciousness, assets and self
Regarding ownership awareness, it refers to humanity and self-expression type collections, identity-type collections, asset-type collections and transaction-type collections.
Life Is Non-fungible: The Evolution of Ownership, Assets, and Us
by Roham Gharegozlou
NFT and a thousand real fans
Regarding the evolution of the Internet and a better creator economy.
NFTs and a Thousand True Fans
by Chris Dixon
Story, scarcity and mimic desire
On how NFT turns stories into scarce assets.
Stories, Scarcity, and Mimetic Desire
by Nick Tomaino
https://thecontrol.co/stories-scarcity-and-mimetic-desire-c4a344fa74e1
NFT is subverting the traditional media content ownership paradigm
Regarding how NFT will provide creators, fans and related developers with platform-driven revenue monetization solutions.
NFTs invert the ownership model of media
by Jesse Walden
https://variant.mirror.xyz/T8kdtZRIgy_srXB5B06L8vBqFHYlEBcv6ae2zR6Y_eo
NFT subculture
NFT has become an aggressive subculture.
NFT subculture
by Denis Nazarov
https://d.mirror.xyz/OQrTGdbiDDKs-7it-URF2NYRG9xLMYEQcNnET8fah3I
Creators, communities and the gray area between
About the next form of community, how authors find their own market, and programmable art.
Creators, communities, and the gray space in the middle where they meet
by Nichanan Kesonpat
https://www.nichanank.com/blog/2020/10/9/gray-space-in-the-middle
Proof of passion: Proof of love
About the history of social internet and the connection with NFT
Proof of passion
by Tal Shachar and Jonathan Glick
https://tals.substack.com/p/proof-of-passion
Cryptocurrency changes value, NFT changes society
On how NFT will change all aspects of the Internet, work, economy, and business model.
Crypto changes value, NFTs change society
by Chris Dixon
https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/crypto-will-change-value-nfts-will
Basic knowledge of cryptocurrency and NFT
About ten years of internet age, blockchain architecture and cryptocurrency.
Crypto fundamentals and NFTs
by Patrick Rivera
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sUpk0gbvRQelH0MUIOqjNeGe8nwRH4mhrhDHmI6qh4M/edit?usp=sharing
Beginners Guides and Explainers
Getting started for beginners
YBB FOUNDATION
A beginner’s guide to NFT
About what NFTs are, why they are so interesting, and their applications.
A beginner’s guide to NFTs
by Linda Xie
https://linda.mirror.xyz/df649d61efb92c910464a4e74ae213c4cab150b9cbcc4b7fb6090fc77881a95d
What is NFT
Regarding the basic attributes of non-homogeneous tokens.
What is an NFT?
by Devin Finzer
The Non-Fungible Token Bible: Everything you need to know about NFTs
Everything about NFT
What, why, how to generate NFT, NFT applications, common problems and misunderstandings.
All about NFTs
by Jesse Walden, Linda Xie, Sonal Chokshi
8 reasons why crypto art will include existing art
About the new economy of digital creation.
8 Reasons why crypto art> art
by Scott Belsky
https://scottbelsky.medium.com/the-furry-lisa-cryptoart-the-new-economy-of-digital-creativity-6cb2300ea081
Understand NFT in one article
Regarding “Monetization MEME”, why NFT can monetize everything and make the world verifiable.
Demystifying NFTs
by Naval Ravikant
Demystifying NFTs:
(A thread)
— Naval (@naval) April 5, 2021
Critics’ prejudice against NFT
On the paradox of digital goods, the value of NFT is different from traditional ownership.
What Critics Don’t Understand About NFTs
by Jonathan Zittrain with Will Marks
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/nfts-show-value-owning-unownable/618525/
Trend: NFT
An overview of NFT, projects, players, resources, attacks and opportunities.
NFTs, the trend
by Dru Riley
The magic of NFT
About the use cases, elements and meaning of NFT.
The new magic of NFTs
Katie Haun interviewed by Tim Ferriss
Building Blocks & Technical Foundations
technical foundation
YBB FOUNDATION
NFT metadata
About on-chain, off-chain, storage and more.
NFT metadata
by Devin Finzer
The Non-Fungible Token Bible: Everything you need to know about NFTs
Does your NFT really belong to you
About the difference between storage, URL and IPFS, off-chain data and more.
Do You Really Own Your NFT?
by Dan Kahan
Non-homogeneous token standard
Regarding Ethereum standards and non-Ethereum standards.
Non-fungible token standards
by Devin Finzer
The Non-Fungible Token Bible: Everything you need to know about NFTs
What is ERC-721
A non-technical interpretation of how ERC-721 works.
What is ERC-721?
by William Entriken
https://fulldecent.blogspot.com/2018/06/nontechnical-what-is-erc-721.html
Non-homogeneous token standard: ERC-721
About the only, rare, collectible token on Ethereum
ERC-721 Non-Fungible Token Standard
https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-721
Cryptographic Dictionary: Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
About the core concepts and terms related to NFT (cryptography, proof of rights, etc.).
Crypto Glossary: Cryptocurrencies & Blockchains
by Alex Pruden and Sonal Chokshi
The crypto world wants to be seen
On how to make creators master and immerse themselves in the world of encryption
Crypto Wants to Be Seen
by Kayvon Tehranian
Arts, Music, Gaming, Other Applications… and Creator Stories
Art, music, games, apps, and creators
YBB FOUNDATION
NFT and the creator economy on it
About how artists, musicians, and writers view NFTs and social tokens, and how different types of assets collide with new sparks.
The Creator Economy: NFTs and beyond
by Kevin Chou, Jesse Walden, Chris Dixon
Tips for creators to get started in the crypto world
Regarding the evolution of the Internet and a better creator economy.
Tips for Creators Getting Into Crypto
by Patrick Rivera
https://p.mirror.xyz/WQQywdjjfnksMRPMaNKBMxPBqfE5k8nL6pCLe1roGyw
How do I get started with NFT
How I Got Into NFTs
How I Got Into NFTs
by Caroline Dy
How to sell an NFT
A video that teaches you how to sell NFT works from concept and design to the shelves.
How We Sold an NFT…
by Colin and Samir
NFT’s design inspiration (Twitter thread)
About how to create a community like a work of art.
Ideas for building in NFTs
by Chris Dixon
Interested in the NFT space? Looking for something to build? Some thoughts below on what I’m most excited to see next in NFT’s. If you’re building one of these ideas, please get in touch!
Thread 👇
— Dylan Field (@zoink) March 18, 2021
NFT consumption, audience and scenarios
About the mass NFT consumer experience and everything related.
On NFT consumption, audience, utility
by Jarrod Dicker, Tal Shacher, Jonathan Glick
https://darkstar.mirror.xyz/bOWhYyX4u5mY0AfY-ObnQSOOcMVEmJQPVUFSw1qJsdc
Audio NFT and musicians
About the limited edition audio/video NFT cast on Ethereum
Musicians meet audio NFTs
by Cooper Turley
https://coopahtroopa-eth.medium.com/musicians-meet-audio-nfts-aa495cfd2996
The connection between visual art and music
The relationship between visual art and music
https://foundation.app/blog/devendra-banhart
Two crypto artists
About traditional art museums’ views on tokenized collections
Two crypto creators
by Pak, Signe Pierce, Zoran Basich
Crypto Creators: On Art Galleries to ‘Tokenized’ Collectibles
How blockchain breaks into traditional auctions
On why a jpeg picture of Beeple can cost 69 million US dollars.
How the blockchain broke the auction block
by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Mary Childs
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/12/976513031/the-69-million-jpeg
Tokenization for players in the crypto economy
On how the blockchain reshapes production relations, collaboration methods, communities and creativity.
Monetization for Gamers in the New Cryptoeconomy
by Kevin Chou
Community economics and the limits of today’s game economies
The limitations of community economics and the existing in-game economy
Research on economic activities inside and outside a game
NFTs and a Thousand True Fans
by Kaiser Hwang
‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ and the limits of today’s game economies
When Metaverse meets the crypto economy
Regarding why Meta Universe needs a strong economic design.
Where crypto meets the metaverse
by Piers Kicks
https://metaversed.net/Into-The-Void-Where-Crypto-Meets-The-Metaverse-263f1ff8c13c455ea472f5689e01acaa
When the meta universe meets Web3
Regarding NFT and digital ownership, open and closed worlds in virtual space, “Realization of Avatar Economy”, and the logic of value transfer in the open world.
Where Web3 meets the metaverse
by Packy McCormick
https://www.notboring.co/p/the-value-chain-of-the-open-metaverse
Great online game
On how to use NFT and other tools on the Internet to achieve a rich, free, console-like game but surpasses the console game.
The Great Online Game
by Packy McCormick
https://www.notboring.co/p/the-great-online-game-audio
What players want is virtual goods with real value
Gamers want virtual goods with real-world value
by Dean Takahashi
Vorhaus Advisors: 63% of gamers want virtual goods with real-world value
NFT is becoming the main source of income for newcomers to cryptocurrency in Colombia and the Philippines
NFTs are becoming a major source of income for crypto newbies in the Philippines to Colombia
by Dan Kahan
NFTs Are Becoming a Major Source of Income for Crypto Newbies in the Philippines to Colombia
Artists who collect NFT
Artists on collecting NFTs
by Samantha Ayson
https://foundation.app/blog/why-artists-are-collecting-each-others-nfts
Value conversion between NFT, virtual art and IRL and virtual life
NFTs, digital art, and the value shift between IRL and virtual life
Trevor McFedries interviewed by Dan Frommer
NFTs, digital art, and the value shift between IRL and virtual life
Creators, artists and athletes
Regarding the distribution of personal tokens in video/live interaction.
Creators, Artists, and Athletes
by Kurt Patat
https://medium.com/rallynetwork/video-creators-artists-and-athletes-discussing-their-creator-coins-with-fans-e633391b59e3
Why do I collect black crypto art
On how the black digital art renaissance creates and captures value for the black community.
Why I’m Collecting Black Crypto Art
by Cuy Sheffield
https://medium.com/@cuysheffield/why-im-collecting-black-crypto-art-c3cbba939d64
Understanding NFT from the perspective of digital abstract art
About how the president of Christie’s auction house views NFT from the traditional art world.
Understanding NFTs as digital abstraction
Noah Davis interviewed by Valentina Di Liscia
Cryptocurrency as content, community and digital assets
On cryptocurrencies as content, communities, digital belonging
by Kyle Chayka
https://air.mirror.xyz/5A16bvvS2IJK7fVVNb2GwrrEcyey2B4UiH2l1DI_Y2I
Accounts at the forefront of the times
About social token owners and their communities.
Forefront Profiles
https://forefront.market/creators
NFT artists and more
Artists on NFTs and more
https://foundation.app/blog
“The Greatest NFT Video Ever”
Let’s see how these NFT video creators think about NFT, platforms, exhibitions, etc., involving art, music, fashion, DeFi, and meta universe.
“The Greatest NFT Film Ever Made”
The Defiant
People who tokenize their lives and delegate decision-making power to others
A well-known experiment and personal token sale case.
The Man Who Tokenized Himself Gives Holders Power Over His Life
Alex Masmej interviewed by Vinamrata Chaturvedi
https://www.coindesk.com/man-who-sells-himself-now-wants-buyers-to-control-his-life
Social Tokens, Community Tokens, Personal Tokens (& NFTs)
Social pass, community pass and personal pass
YBB FOUNDATION
Social pass
Passes issued by individuals and passes issued by communities.
Social tokens
by Linda Xie
https://linda.mirror.xyz/df649d61efb92c910464a4e74ae213c4cab150b9cbcc4b7fb6090fc77881a95d
Fragmentation of NFT and better social tokens
The purpose of NFT fragmentation, communities and more.
The fractionalization of NFTs will lead to better social tokens
by Brian Flynn
https://jammsession.mirror.xyz/-xYcfFRlhDdLDSUgRMTYJAaRJBs2VG4LP34DnOV84mI
Loyalty Points and Social Tokens
Social motivation and social motivation in social tokens.
Loyalty Points and Social Tokens
by Wong Joon Ian
https://medium.com/rallynetwork/loyalty-points-and-social-tokens-5046d1ca993
Social Token Annual Review (2020)
Those digital assets endorsed by individuals, communities or brands.
Social Tokens Year in Review (2020)
by Cooper Turley with Jess Sloss, James Young, Scott Moore, Brian Flynn, and Priyanka Desai
https://2020inreview.forefront.news/
Creator DAOs, Creator Economies; Funding Innovation
Creator DAO and Creator Economy
YBB FOUNDATION
Start with the author, loyal to the community
The decentralized protocol is not a social network but an encrypted economic network.
Come for the creator, stay for the economy
by Patrick Rivera
https://p.mirror.xyz/1EpvJwUpx_KlRcHOKLNqADEkwHL_Z1ZYKobF2uLwgBg
Human power
The rise of the creator economy, NFT, and individual micro companies.
Power to the person
by Packy McCormick
https://www.notboring.co/p/power-to-the-person-audio
Getting started with DAO for beginners
Cases related to NFT DAO organizations such as art and games.
A beginner’s guide to DAOs
by Linda Xie
https://linda.mirror.xyz/Vh8K4leCGEO06_qSGx-vS5lvgUqhqkCz9ut81WwCP2o
About the creator DAO
How is DAO different from crowdfunding platforms? -The core difference lies in ownership.
On creator DAOs
by Jonathan Glick, Jarrod Dicker, Tal Schachar
https://darkstar.mirror.xyz/Tf9IS6yNxtPXwC5mmfi_UISe8v6BOfef2bDmQSxoJao
DAO among DAO
From NFT to DAO, staged delegation of authority, the current form and future form of DAO.
The DAO of DAOs
by Packy McCormick
https://www.notboring.co/p/the-dao-of-daos-5b9
Agreement and creator DAO
Compare the economic flow and culture between cities and residents to the factors, information, and agreements in DAO.
Protocols and creator DAOs
by Jonathan Glick, Jarrod Dicker, Tal Schachar, Brian Flynn
https://darkstar.mirror.xyz/yEK4DdvmxwZ2l-yHWGOQs3rMsLD6RYs_phLUzSFdhAI
The Nobel Prize for “Risk Postpositioning” Capital and Crypto World
“Post-Venture” Capital and the Crypto Nobel Prize
by Chris Dixon
https://glyphx.medium.com/post-venture-capital-and-the-crypto-nobel-prize-29847faf3f08
Compliance is the scarcest resource
About NFT as public goods.
The Most Important Scarce Resource is Legitimacy
by Vitalik Buterin
https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/03/23/legitimacy.html
NFT Ecosystem, Markets, and FAQs
NFT ecology, market and common problems
YBB FOUNDATION
NFT Ecological Overlook
Market; art, collectibles, games, virtual worlds; finance and trading.
Ecosystem overview
by Andrew Steinwold
https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-quick-overview-of-the-nft-ecosystem
Where does NFT capture value
Where do NFTs capture value?
https://coopahtroopa.mirror.xyz/A16NP2XXi9RdHptfdF9WHR0Xq_E1XDmUgMwPmJYOG7w
NFT market
2019 – 2020 NFT Market Analysis
The non-fungible token market
by Devin Finzer
The Non-Fungible Token Bible: Everything you need to know about NFTs
Look at my NFT
How to better preserve your NFT assets.
Check My NFT
by Chris Dixon
https://checkmynft.com/
How to organize an exhibition for crypto art
Regarding venues, displays, and the Meta universe Pavilion
How to display crypto art
by William Peaster
https://metaversal.banklesshq.com/p/how-to-display-cryptoart-
How to buy NFT furniture
How to collect and display NFT furniture.
How to use NFT furniture
by Gabriella Fuller
https://nymag.com/strategist/article/how-to-use-nft-furniture.html
CryptoPunks first offline exhibition documentary
On the physical carrier of digital ownership.
How the CryptoPunks took physical form to participate in their first gallery show
https://www.larvalabs.com/blog/2019-2-1-15-1/a-physical-model-for-digital-art-ownership-the-cryptopunks-in-their-first-gallery-show
Legal Reader for NFT Creators and Collectors
NFTs: A Legal Guide for Creators and Collectors
by Amy Luo
https://www.coindesk.com/nfts-a-legal-guide-for-creators-and-collectors
Rankings
Market and ranking
YBB FOUNDATION
OpenSea
https://opensea.io/rankings
CryptoSlam!
https://www.cryptoslam.io/
CryptoArt
https://cryptoart.io/
Other Resources – Newsletters & Digests
Newsletter and Social Review
YBB FOUNDATION
Zima Red
https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/
The Forefront Newsletter
https://forefront.market/newsletter
History: Origins; Earlier and Other Forms of Crypto Art, Collectibles, & Games
Origins: Origins, early collections and games
Crypto trading cards (1993)
Hal Finney
Bitcoin visionary Hal Finney ‘predicted’ booming NFT market — in 1993
Colored coins (2012)
Early NFT projects and their value determination.
Colored coins (2012)
by Yoni Assia, Vitalik Buterin, Lior Hakim, Meni Rosenfeld
http://bitpaper.info/serve/AMIfv94V0F8kxt1ACXga9Tc1V0jm-u-Jf2evCmcHWsZJmYSBG6JB5qA5E3J5eNToOSfOFs7LKfC6X8Y-_nUQR-C-qQC10aruJIVDG0ueU_qdZ4yG5l_VftKoBXs1xzpZHgCTx23tErQ1glKv0XrDC07gvNNINlM-QV1pWzdqhCM1MtubSUA7fyg.pdf
The history of NFT
Games, experiments, and more since the era of Cryptokitties.
History of NFTs
by Devin Finzer
Rare Pepe (2017)
Digital asset card game
by Fred Wilson
Token of game character skin
Social reputation mining, token-based player registration, early token scenarios.
Skin-in-the-game coins (2018)
by Ryan Selkis
https://medium.com/messaricrypto/skin-in-the-game-coins-da0afdfdc650
NFT and a thousand real fans
Regarding the evolution of the Internet and a better creator economy.
NFTs and a Thousand True Fans
by Chris Dixon
Will cryptocurrency become the next tipping point of the art market?
Will cryptocurrencies be the art market’s next big thing? (2018)
by Scott Reyburn
Smart Media Pass
Smart media tokens (2017)
from Steemit
https://smt.steem.io/smt-whitepaper.pdf
Digital collections and the weird future of “Digibles”
Digital collectibles and the weird future of “digibles”
by Josh Stark
https://hackernoon.com/digital-collectibles-and-the-weird-future-of-digibles-f75f4bf0f9aa
How to develop a Cryptokitties-style NFT game on Ethereum
How to code your own cryptokitties-style game on Ethereum (2017)
by James Martin Duffy
https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-code-your-own-cryptokitties-style-game-on-ethereum-7c8ac86a4eb3
