WTF is an NFT? How do you make one? Why are they worth so much? All of these questions and more answered on this edition of Same Same but Tech. The age of the NFT is upon us, and it’s bringing a whole new era of hype to the notorious ‘future of everything’ technology: the blockchain. 

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets that can be bought and sold on the public ledger of the blockchain. And after the sales of several huge and eye-catching NFTs this winter, marketplaces all over the interwebs are getting in on the action, promising an infinite sea of art and other digital assets to save to your hard drive. And just like all things internet, this NFT boom started with cats. 

In this episode, we trace the story of the rise of Dapper Labs, who’ve been on the front edges of advancing the blockchains first killer app. They started Cryptokitties in 2017, an NFT marketplace offering a digital den of kittens that are cute, unique and collectible. It was wildly successful, but ultimately limited in scope. 

We’ll talk to Roham Gharegozlou, Dapper’s CEO, about how they soon added basketball to the mix, partnering with the NBA to create a highly lucrative market for NFT collectibles and highlights from the NBA’s hottest players.  

Before you open up your crypto wallets and empty out your bitcoin, is this latest crypto trend a bubble? Or are we on the cusp of a paradigm shift -- where digital and physical items now hold the same value in our eyes? 

With expert insight from Devin Finzer CEO of OpenSea, one of the biggest NFT marketplaces today. 

Hosted by Máuhan M Zonoozy, Head of Innovation at Spotify, Partner-alum at BCG Digital Ventures, and NYC-based angel investor and entrepreneur.

Visit our website:  https://www.samesamepodcast.com