The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create

by Stephen Kaczynski, Scott Duke Kominers

A Harvard Business School professor and a16z crypto research partner and a career marketer and Web3 entrepreneur demystify the coming digital revolution, showing how NFTs will transform our online and offline interactions.

NFTs aren’t just pictures on the internet, or a fad that has come and gone. Rather, they're a new technology for creating digital assets and providing irrefutable proof of ownership. NFTs open up markets that have never before existed, and are already revolutionizing commerce and brand-building at everything from hot startups to Fortune 500 companies. 

Kominers and Kaczynski have created a framework that explains what NFTs are, why they’re valuable, and how businesses can leverage them to build highly engaged and intensely loyal communities around their products and brands.

Through original research and industry experience, Kominers and Kaczynski describe the possibilities of this new digital frontier with clarity and rigor. The Everything Token is the essential primer on this innovation that has the potential to transform all aspects of business.

Genres: Technology, Business, Nonfiction, Finance, Economics

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2024

Reviews

[Kevin Postlewaite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caveat: I stopped around 2/3 through.

What the authors and I agree on:
-NFTs are fun
-NFTs can be useful
-NFTs can be valuable

What the authors and I disagree on:
-I believe that almost every use case raised by the authors can be more simply and cheaply implemented without blockchain, i.e. not NFT
-I believe that much of the fun of NFTs is related to their newness and that they will lose much of their fun if/when they become common

Blockchain allows decentralized transactions. However, almost no transactions gain from the decentralization: almost all transactions can be executed just fine if there exists a single, trusted ledger keeper. And single, trusted ledger keepers are much simpler and cheaper (overall) to run than blockchain. The "cheaper" part is not always visible since so many people currently are subsidizing block chain transactions but shifting costs to these people does not lower them from a society viewpoint.

The book talks about:
-how multiple non-related users may interact with NFTs. This is because APIs have become established and implemented but this same API could be implemented by a single, trusted ledger keeper
-how NFTs could handle concert tickets and transfers at costs lower than Ticketmaster charges. Well, yes: Ticketmaster is profiting! They won't give up their fees if they can keep them
-You can prove your ownership of digital goods to different systems. But consider the incentives: maybe I want to enforce title to digital goods on the immersive world I implement. More likely, I'll let everyone use all digital goods produced by others since I gain nothing by enforcing others' title

The one aspect you can't get from single trusted ledger keepers is, as I mentioned, is decentralization. The use cases for that are if you have issues with the ledger keepers (trust or philosophical) or if the ledger keepers have issues with the transactions you want to store in the ledger. Or if blockchain is cheaper than ledger keepers, as it might appear today because of the subsidization of it.

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must admit, I like the term "Non-Fungible Token," so learning more about NFTs interested me, as well as being suitable in my work. The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create by Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers explores the potential of NFTs beyond just digital art and collectibles. The book explains how NFTs provide proof of ownership and discusses their potential to reshape industries by creating new markets, enhancing brand engagement, and revolutionising how we buy, sell, and interact with digital and physical assets. The authors examine real-world applications of tokens, from fashion and gaming to real estate and intellectual property, arguing that NFTs could become a foundational technology in the digital economy.

I generally found this book interesting and informative—I certainly learned some things about tokenisation and its potential applications. The book does a good job of explaining how NFTs work and why they might matter beyond just speculation or hype. The idea that NFTs and tokenisation could reshape industries by providing verifiable ownership and enabling new forms of commerce was compelling.

However, I didn’t find the book particularly useful in a practical sense. While it lays out the vision for NFTs in a clear and accessible way, much of the discussion felt theoretical rather than immediately applicable. A decent introduction to the topic, but not a must-read unless you're deeply invested in token economies.

[Steve Percoco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am in the process of climbing the learning curve on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, etc. This book floated across my desk a month ago and, as its title suggests, it provides an overview of NFTs. The book highlights many of the potential uses of NFTs, while acknowledging that many have yet to be discovered; but its focus is on using NFTs as a core strategy to build customer engagement and communities mostly for commercial purposes. The framework that the authors outline - the NFT staircase of ownership, identity, community and evolution - is a useful way for business enterprises to create and execute these core commercial strategies. The book offers many specific examples of communities - such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club - and companies - such as Starbucks, Nike and Adidas - that have integrated NFT technology into their customer outreach programs. One especially useful chapter focuses on the ongoing challenges that NFT adoption faces, including high creation and transaction costs, limited customer access and protection, and regulation. Consequently, I believe that this book would be especially useful to any organization that is beginning to consider whether NFT adoption can or should be integrated into their go-to-market strategies.
However, there are many other potential uses of NFT technology, both in decentralized networks and also through some centralized control - e.g. digital diplomas, stock certificates, etc. - that I believe are more likely to represent the largest use cases for this technology over time. The book mentions these only in passing. As a result, I think The Everything Token offers an excellent introduction into NFT technology in the currently most prevalent use cases, but it has left me wanting to learn more about and explore these other use cases.

[Artem Afian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been waiting for this book for a long time. And I find it great. There are a lot of insights. Of course I think this book is more for for web3 newcomers.

But there is a big part of a book missing for me. It’s about legal. I think talking about NFT, and having one small chapter on regulation is just not enough for such kind of book.

Authors say that regulation is not obvious. But there is a secret, that can make it very straightforward. NFT is a paper of digital world. So there is no uncertainty. The nature of the documents fully depends of what’s written there. Maybe one of the most interesting parts that NFT creates combination of different documents. Your share may look as a piece of art, or your gym-membership ticket might allow you to bet on sport. Bu it doesn’t create a huge complexity. You just need to follow the highest legal standards of all documents that rise from an NFT nature.

Imagine that there is no paper and you are reading this text on a wall of our cave. In your imagination, try pitching a paper to chief of a tribe. Actually you can use all of the same words and the same narrative. The everything paper! Because all magic that terms NFT from a simple .jpeg to title or loyalty token - is law. And this is the same that turns blank shit into security contract or piece of art. People in web3 are too afraid of legal. I agree that NFT is huge. But without illegal, it will remain only a JPEG file.

Engineers were left behind for a long time. Now engineers rule and lawyers feel left behind. Despite it might look like I’m disappointed with the book I’m not. I think it’s a very important topic. Hope there will be a second book about legal. And one more idea for this new book: for everything token you one needs an everything wallet.

[Raymond Goss · Rating 2 out of 5]

The authors seem like they are selling swampland in Florida. They seem like they think everyone wants to have digital tokens for all the Beanie Babies or other junk that people buy. I think I'm going to stop reading this book about halfway through it.

I do think there are legitimate reasons to use blockchain solutions. Places where contracts or verifiable evidence is needed. Perhaps someone wants to patent something and needs to record that their design was correctly dated or a deed to land that goes through a title company. Most people have used Kindle books or Apple wallets and understand how this could be beneficial. I work in a industry where we could/want to use this technologies to minimize counterfeits and provide access to data. However, this comes with a compute cost. We are also at risk that companies will just give up and close up shop at all verified locations. While this seems "unlikely" by the authors, it seems very likely for a company that decides that they no longer just want to hold onto this data after they no longer get revenue from it. There also has to be a way to get rid of old data that is truly not needed after the event is over.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book on the En Eff Tee and Web 3 revolution I now have much better understanding. There are very good and annoying things coming our way, annoying things will include increased fanboyism of companies and a dizzying array of new marketing stuff. Very good things include taking power away from Web 2 morbidly obese and control freak companies, and one very cool thing will be to allow artists and "content creators" to make a living off catering to a much smaller group of fans by eliminating the middlemen (e.g. clickbait cesspool YouTube) who collect a huge cut, and thereby directly profiting from fans and subscribers.

[Aurelio Guerra · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is little value to this book. The authors try to argue in favor of NFTs, but their arguments are simplistic and repetitive. They offer a few of real-life examples, none of them impressive, however most of their cases are fictional. Even some of the "real" uses of NFT's that they use as evidence of the uses of NFTs are already failures because of the lack of clear benefits (Starbucks Odyssey).
Side note: of the books I've read recently (in the last 2 years) this is about the third or fourth book authored by a Harvard professor that I find lacking any real substance.

[Dav · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you know nothing about NFTs and want to be breathlessly sold on them by a couple of True Believers (hey but with investment disclosures!) in the corner of the hotel bar at a Web3 conference, this book is for you.

Maybe it got interesting later but i gave up. There was too much selling happening. I would have preferred a drier treatment.

[Mika Kuusisto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can recommend this if you are new to Web3 but unfortunately it only scratches the surface of many areas, besides couple examples.

The book paints quite an idealistic view of Web3, but sadly greed has ruined many of these nice ideals in real life. I still remain bullish about Web3.

[Alan Zhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

replaced my vague and broad skepticism (why blockchain) with specific skepticism (cost of infrastructure, single source of creative truth)

[Lovejeet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the crypto verse for the uninitiated. Go for a ride in a world full of CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Pudgy Penguins etc. and how they are shaping society as a whole.

[Marc Palucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted The Everything Token to be the go-to guide for understanding NFTs and blockchain-based digital assets. With Chris Dixon’s reputation and Kaczynski’s background at a16z, I expected something deep and insightful. But honestly, the book didn’t quite deliver.

It touches on the big-picture ideas, like how NFTs are immutable and transferable, but skips over the nitty-gritty. There’s barely any explanation of how different blockchains work or how assets actually move between wallets. For a book that’s supposed to be about the future of digital ownership, that felt like a big miss.

What’s more, some of the case studies, like Starbucks Odyssey, are already outdated. That makes the book feel like it has a short shelf life. And while it references sources in the appendix, it doesn’t bring in much data or analytics, no charts, no marketplace volume comparisons, nothing that would give readers a real sense of scale or momentum.

In the end, it felt more like a collection of blog posts than a comprehensive book. There’s definitely value in the high-level overview, but I couldn’t help but feel like a lot of the deeper insights were left out, maybe intentionally. For that reason, I’d give it three stars. It’s a decent intro, but not the deep dive I was hoping for.

Some of my key takeaways are:
(1) NFTs and blockchain technology have the potential to both transform existing markets and create completely novel forms of interaction and experience. Giving users a greater of ownership and control over their experience as well as sharing in the economics of the intellectual property.
(2) Web1 was where you’re the consumer. You travel across the web ingesting information and participating in e-commerce. Web2 you were the product, where network effects-built communities that engaged their audience and advertisers competed for your time. Web3 is where you part of the brand. Through digital ownership you flex your ownership and promote the brand because you have an invested interest.
(3) The most interesting use case was StockX which issued a series of NFTs matched to specific collectibles, which it authenticated and held in a climate-controlled vault. Therefore, preserving the goods while reducing the cost of shipping. Instead of trading the physical asset back and forth, buyers could trade the NFTs and if the owner wanted to take possession, they can pay shipping and handling to receive the physical good.

Quotes:
The idea of Web3 is that we can fundamentally disrupt the way business works by giving individuals a greater degree of ownership over their data and other digital assets. This gives people more control of their experience online, and at the same time it gives them a share of the pie-which incentivizes both users and platforms to invest in making the experience better for everyone. It’s bringing consumers and their favorite brands closer than ever before in a way that create more value for all involved. – Pg. 55

With a physical good, it’s virtually automatic that the person who owns the good gets to control its functions. But blockchains are the only technology we know of that enables that same sort o user control and synchrony of assets across digital space. – Pg. 77

In Web2 everyone has to leave their photos and other information behind when they switch platforms, in Web3 people have the option of bringing their data with them as they travel around the internet. – Pg. 117