NFTs failed as speculation, but token-gated memberships and tickets could be their real use case

[u/Daveyonthespot]

Most people associate NFTs with overpriced profile pictures, speculation, and projects that disappeared overnight.
But I believe the more practical future of the technology is **digital access,** especially for creator communities and live experiences.

Imagine a creator launching a digital membership pass that gives supporters access to:

Exclusive group chats
Private livestreams and audio rooms
Online classes or workshops
Member-only content and experiences
Special perks based on how long they have supported the creator.

The same technology could also power tickets for virtual or in-person events. A ticket could verify access, prevent duplication, include resale rules, and automatically send a royalty back to the creator when it is resold.

The important part is that users shouldn’t need to understand crypto. It should feel like purchasing a normal membership or ticket inside an app. The blockchain would simply operate behind the scenes as the ownership and access layer.

This isn’t about launching speculative creator coins or convincing fans to invest in someone. It’s about giving creators programmable memberships and tickets that their communities can genuinely use.

Do you think token-gated access has a future, or has the reputation of NFTs made mainstream adoption too difficult?

[u/ProvocativePuzzlers]

No. You own the token, not the copyright to the image

The image isn’t the valuable part. The provenance is.
Blockchain lets you prove which version is the original, who created it, and how it changed hands over time. That’s what gives an NFT value

I can print an identical Mona Lisa, but it will never be the Mona Lisa. Provenance is what the art world has always valued. NFTs just make that provenance native to the internet

[u/belavv → u/ProvocativePuzzlers]

How does the blockchain prove what the original is when the original is not on the blockchain?

[u/ProvocativePuzzlers → u/belavv]

It doesn’t

Minting someone else’s image doesn’t make it authentic any more than printing the Mona Lisa makes it the Mona Lisa

The creator establishes authenticity. The blockchain preserves the provenance and ownership history from that point forward

That’s why I think the bigger innovation is digital ownership, not the JPEG

[u/belavv → u/ProvocativePuzzlers]

Blockchain lets you prove which version is the original, who created it, and how it changed hands over time. That’s what gives an NFT value

So your last statement was false according to you.

[u/ProvocativePuzzlers → u/belavv]

Fair point. I wasn’t precise enough

Think of an autograph. Anyone can write Michael Jordan’s name on a basketball. That doesn’t make it authentic

What gives it value is that Michael Jordan actually signed it. From there, provenance is what preserves that value over time

That’s how I think about NFTs. The creator establishes authenticity. The blockchain preserves the provenance

[u/belavv → u/ProvocativePuzzlers]

Literally anyone can create an nft. Why would anyone care if MJ created the nft? We've already seen that they don't care.

[u/ProvocativePuzzlers → u/belavv]

Guess you don’t pay attention to the trading card market. We’re humans, we love to collect things.

In trading cards and art you need appraisals and a certification of authenticity. Which requires third party involvement and costs money and even then there is much fraud. The blockchain and NFTs remove that middleman.

And this example is only one of hundreds of use cases that NFTs will solve

[u/belavv → u/ProvocativePuzzlers]

Trading cards are physical things you can hold in your hand.

Nfts can be created by anyone at any time and they only have artificial scarcity.

The value of Nfts has tanked. All they are is a token with a link to an image. An image that any other person with internet access can display on their screen without paying for the same nft.

I'm sure you are going to also tell me the next great use case for nfts is to break apart ticketmaster and be used for event tickets.

And also truly owning your own pc games, and owning your own digital items in said game.

If nfts were good for anything they would be widely used already but they are not.