YouTube CEO hints that NFTs could be added to creator platform

Susan Wojcicki stated YouTube’s intent to “help creators capitalize on emerging technologies.”

YouTube’s Chief Executive Officer, Susan Wojcicki, addressed YouTube’s priorities for 2022 in a letter published Tuesday on the company blog. Among those priorities included the possibility of adding nonfungible token, or NFT, features for the platform’s video creators.

there’s *so much* to in 2022: @SusanWojcicki shares the future of YouTube → https://t.co/uL2WIbLwXK pic.twitter.com/JEW8yzqh7e

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 25, 2022

What this could look like is yet to be determined, however. No additional details were provided in Wojcicki’s statement besides the claim that the YouTube team will use developments in the Web3 space “as a source of inspiration.”

“The past year in the world of crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) has highlighted a previously unimaginable opportunity to grow the connection between creators and their fans.”

As YouTube looks to expand the number of ways that creators can earn money, one option is to “capitalize on emerging technologies.” Currently, there are 10 ways for creators to monetize their business according to Wojcicki, including ads and the newly introduced TikTok-like YouTube Shorts. Could NFTs be next? 

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YouTube boasts one of the largest creator communities and is the second most visited site in the world, according to Similarweb. In light of the rise of the Metaverse and other Web3 initiatives by social media platforms like Meta and Twitter, which has recently allowed iOS users to use NFTs as their profile pictures, YouTube looks to compete to retain and attract talent.

In Wojcicki letter, she also mentioned their intent to improve the live experience for gaming creators as a priority. Since NFT integration in video games has become a main use case for the adoption of NFTs, then this could suggest that gaming creators may be more open to capitalizing on YouTube’s new initiative.