SoftBank’s Onetime Pizza-Robot Darling Shuts DownRead more

A screen displays a NFT, or non-fungible token, work of art in New York on April 10. Photo: AP

Chasing the NFT ‘Gold Rush’; YouTube Shorts Picks Up Views

Photo: A screen displays a NFT, or non-fungible token, work of art in New York on April 10. Photo: AP

The internet craze for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has piqued the interest of creators, who are experimenting with selling their own NFTs, the one-of-a-kind digital collectibles that range from Jack Dorsey’s first tweet to the photo behind the Disaster Girl meme. A service called Rally.io, which allows people to launch their own digital currency, will soon unveil a way for creators to sell NFTs to their fans. 

“Creators are chasing that gold rush,” said Goldie Chan, an influencer and social media strategist. 

On Wednesday, Rally also announced that it raised $57 million through the sale of $RLY, a token on the ethereum network (a blockchain-based platform) to investors including individuals. 

What’s Next: The San Francisco-based crypto platform, which previously raised venture funding from Coinbase Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Battery Ventures, said its top five creators are transacting $102,000 on average every week, in what’s known as creator coins or social tokens. Rally is now working on an integration with Shopify so merchants using that e-commerce software can accept creator coins, said Bremner Morris, who runs Rally’s revenue and marketing.

The Takeaway: Social media celebrities are hungry for new ways to make money. Using personalized digital currencies to sell buzzy NFTs as well as other services, such as access to private chats on the Discord app or exclusive merchandise, could fit the bill. Creator coins also extend their personal branding. The cynic’s take? It could be easier than ever to track the decline in a creator’s financial value.

One more thing: $RLY isn’t a currency in the way bitcoin is. Investors in $RLY (currently valued at $0.81) have voting rights, like approving a Rally marketing campaign, and can convert $RLY into creator coins.

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Art by Clark Miller.
Exclusive startups crypto
MoonPay CEO, Other Executives Cashed Out Before Crypto Business Dropped
In November 2021, just as crypto prices were hitting all-time highs, MoonPay—a crypto payments startup that celebrities including Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton had praised for its non-fungible token “concierge” service— announced it had completed its first ever outside fundraising: an eye-popping $555 million round at a $3.4 billion valuation from investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Bloomberg
semiconductors ai
Why Nvidia Aids Cloud Rivals of AWS, Google and Microsoft
Nvidia’s business of selling chips for artificial intelligence is going gangbusters, but the company faces a looming problem.
Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. Photo by Getty.
Exclusive startups Finance
Growth Wanes at Instacart, Gopuff
Grocery upstarts Instacart and Gopuff haven’t been able to deliver two things at once this year: growth and profits.
Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive apple ar/vr
Apple’s Learning Curve: How Headset’s Design Caused Production Challenges
If Apple unveils its long-awaited mixed-reality headset next week as expected, it will represent the company’s riskiest gamble on a new product since the iPhone.
Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock (4)
Opinion ar/vr
Don’t Count the Metaverse Out
The technology hype cycle would have us believe that the metaverse—so recently the darling of digital trendsetters—is on the decline, its place usurped by generative artificial intelligence.
Mixed hydroxide precipitate, the go-to feedstock for battery nickel sulfate, on a conveyor belt at Indonesia's Harita Group, which pioneered the process. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg
The Electric electric vehicles
The Electric: Western Auto and Battery Makers’ Big Gamble on Indonesian Nickel
For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in Russia or the Philippines and smelted at temperatures up to 2,900 degrees.