The technology doesn’t exactly exist yet but it should. I’m talking about the ability to digitally autograph an NFT.
Wait, did this just create a new standard for "autographing" NFTs? For instance, if I inscribe mine with my .eth name and send it to someone and they don't change it, isn't that like having an autographed copy of an NFT? https://t.co/ybxw2j9D6y
— Seán Murray | sean3.eth (@financeguy74) August 17, 2023
To be fair there already is a standard, the method used by Autograph.io to promote digitally autographed athlete NFTs. But it’s a bit funky because each NFT image file contains what looks like the athlete’s handwritten signature. “Each edition includes Tom Brady’s authentic signature, signed individually and personally by Tom Brady,” one collection says. And so they’re essentially pre-signed by each athlete who apparently hand wrote their signatures dozens of times somewhere and then had them layered onto the NFT image files. Cooooool?
For autographs, many fans trace the value to the experience of getting the autograph from the celebrity in person first and the dollar value of it second. I’d rather have Tom Brady sign my jersey in person than just buy a signed Tom Brady jersey on eBay, for example. And that’s where Autograph.io goes wrong, in my opinion, that there’s nothing interactive about the manner in which they were obtained. There’s no story behind each signature, no context, just something the athlete sold en masse so it could get money out of fans. You can’t wear it, you can’t hold it, you can’t even put it in your memorabilia-laden bachelor pad. As a fan, therefore, there is literally no value to it except for money. Womp womp…
But what if you saw Tom Brady on the street and you asked for his autograph, would you be responsible for having a pen or would he? And what would the odds be that you even had something appropriate to sign? Your chance encounter would be all for naught unless you could solve for both of those things. But chances are you both have your phones with you and if you’re a true fan, maybe you had some football related NFTs on your wallet. If only there were some way for him to sign YOUR NFT with his wallet name on-chain. Then you’d have a unique 1 of 1 Tom Brady autograph, a story of how it went down, and proof that he signed it. Seems pretty legit.