Four NFT Use Cases for Crypto Nomads

Introduction

The travel and tourism industries are in dire need of change. The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has shaken decades-old assumptions for foreigners and locals alike. COVID-19 tested our beliefs about location-driven services, tourism-driven businesses, and physical cash. The government told us to stay at home and canceled international travel. Tourism stood still. Due to travel restrictions and border lockdowns, most location-based businesses took a revenue hit. They started to question their operations and business models. Travelers and nomads alike became immobile and became dependent on their location.

While coronaviruses will continue to evolve and co-exist with humanity, people can adapt to travel differently. We can use cryptocurrencies ($BTC, $BCH, $ETH) and blockchain technologies to rebuild travel from the ground up.

Cryptocurrencies offer new options for remote workers and digital nomads heading to popular destinations like #Singapore, #Bermuda, or #Portugal.

How can cryptocurrencies solve problems facing traditional travel or tourism? Digital nomads can use crypto-assets (crypto coins and tokens) to pay for travel-related expenses and use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to unlock new travel experiences.

NFTs are becoming more and more accessible in the travel and tourism industry. These crypto tokens are often created on NFT marketplaces (rarible.com, zora.co, opensea.io, foundation.app, superrare.co). NFTs can be as simple as a picture or be more complex such as animation, video, audio, AR/3D, or PDF files.

NFTs have been growing since 2017. They offer complementary solutions to traditional reservation systems and will expand to solve industry problems. NFTs are riding the smart contract-driven blockchain networks ($ETH, $FLOW, $BNB).

This blog post explores four applications for NFTs: accommodation bookings, proof of travel, travel memorabilia, and travel experiences. These unique crypto tokens bring composability, ownership, and flexibility to travel and tourism. NFTs enable physical assets (real estate properties, rooms in hotels, or hostels) as well as digital assets (airline tickets, experiences, or activities) to be tokenized. The tokenization of everything is made possible thanks to blockchain networks (ethereum.org, polygon.technology, optimism.io, arbitrum.io) and data networks (ipfs.io, bittorrent.com, arweave.org, filecoin.io, ethswarm.org).

NFTs as accommodation bookings

NFTs are becoming a popular way to rent or buy temporary accommodation stays. These crypto tokens can be used as digital keys to access travel accommodations and hotel services.

Crypto nomads can use NFTs to unlock amenities. Imagine unlocking your hotel or hostel room by opening your crypto wallet and digitally verifying your digital collectible. Crypto tokens can unlock access to fitness centers, swimming pools, or even restaurant reservations. There's no need to carry physical keys when you have digital keys as NFTs.

Digital nomads and crypto nomads can use online platforms that accept cryptocurrencies to book stays, flights, or activities (travala.com). They can also use crypto-enabled credit cards (crypto.com, binance.com, gemini.com, wirexapp.com, crypterium.com, coinbase.com, blockfi.com) to decrease the reliance on fiat currency (local currency).

When you book accommodation as an NFT, you obtain a digital license for a physical stay. You are the owner of your booking. Your NFT is your proof of accommodation stay, which is digitally verifiable on the blockchain.

As a crypto nomad, you can expect that travel accommodation will become tokenized. NFTs as stay bookings are emerging quickly (dtravel.com).

NFTs as proof of travel

One of the biggest challenges that travelers face is proving they've traveled. How do you prove you went to the places you claim you went?

Travelers and nomads are now living in a new era of travel where proof-of-travel is a reality. NFTs are a great way to manage ownership and transfer of digital assets. Now they can help you prove your travel history using blockchain technologies.

Travelers on the cutting edge of technology are using NFTs to prove they visited places. NFTs act as proof-of-travel since receipts (expense invoices for hotels, car rentals, and restaurant meals) are digitally verifiable on the blockchain. For example, crypto nomads can take photos of their flight tickets and mint them as NFTs. When in Paris, they can take pictures of themselves with the Eiffel Tower in the backdrop and store them on different blockchain networks.

NFTs represent flight tickets. NFTs can show a digital travel itinerary from one city or country to another. Crypto nomads can also use NFTs to create a digital trail.

Anyone can attach a location name to a picture or a video, but how do you know the place is honest? In a world where deep learning-based generative models can create fakes, it becomes harder to verify proof of location. Luckily, blockchain technologies have come to the rescue. Crypto nomads are using blockchain technologies to track their travel journeys.

Want to mint an NFT with your location metadata? Anyone can take a photo or capture a video. Proving your location is more challenging since most NFT platforms do not store location data. Digital nomads will begin demanding NFTs with location data. Next-level NFTs will provide verifiable proof of travel or evidence of location. Crypto nomads will use smart devices, smartphones, or smartwatches not only to verify their site but, more importantly, store their geographical coordinates on the blockchain. Hardware-based minting devices will enable crypto nomads to digitally store geographical metadata (location, environment, and motion tracking) directly on the blockchain.

Location-based NFTs are the future of travel. They bring life to struggling industries of travel and tourism.

NFTs as travel memorabilia

With the growing popularity of crypto nomads, there is a need for new travel memorabilia. NFTs are an exciting and unique way to commemorate travels through collecting tokens. These crypto-collectibles enable travelers to own digital assets (pictures, videos, art, tickets) as souvenirs.

Travelers love to collect souvenirs from their favorite destinations, which is why travel mementos have been a tradition for centuries. However, when crypto enthusiasts add digital collectibles to the mix, the results can be pretty surprising. The idea of collecting travel memorabilia is not new. Still, it has taken on a new meaning with the introduction of crypto tokens. Thanks to QR codes and the proliferation of NFT marketplaces, traveling and collecting NFTs is now possible.

NFTs are the new travel memorabilia for crypto nomads. Crypto nomads have a growing interest in digital memorabilia they can take with them on the road. NFTs are a new trend that involves digital collectibles and travel destinations. Travel companies and tourist brands will use blockchain technologies to create digital collectibles for nomads and travelers.

NFTs are the perfect souvenirs for this new breed of traveler. NFTs allow travelers to tokenize their travel to countries, cities, venues, or events. Every time you purchase a ticketed event as NFTs (get-protocol.io) or visit a historical place to collect an NFT, you are creating digital memorabilia. As a nomad, you can capture your travel journey by minting NFTs as photos or videos.

Imagine you travel to a new beach, and you see a physical sign with a QR code. You come closer to realize you discovered a location-based NFT! You open your mobile, scan the QR code, and claim your own NFT. With your new digital memorabilia in your crypto wallet, you can share your excitement on social media platforms (instagram.com, twitter.com, discord.com).

NFTs as travel experiences

NFTs are like travel experiences, whether it's travel pictures, videos, or stories. You can come back to them throughout your life whenever you want.

The ownership economy is growing. More people today see value in digital ownership where they purchase unique digital assets powered by blockchain technologies.

Travelers today want to visit somewhere more than. They want to experience, whether that's escape, exploration, adventure, or anything in between.

NFTs are a new way for digital nomads to experience travel. As travelers immerse themselves in the culture of places they visit, they will seek to capture their travel experience as NFTS.

Today, travel is an experience that is purchased. A plane ticket and hotel reservation are tickets to experiences. In the future, NFTs will represent travel tickets. The traveler will use their crypto wallet to purchase a specific travel experience or event mint their NFT.

The travel sector has long been a target for blockchain innovation, potentially improving everything from ticketing to payments. But a new generation of startups aims to disrupt the travel industry differently: turning traditional NFTs into experiences that users can collect and trade as they travel.

Conclusion

Thanks to emerging blockchain technologies, crypto nomads can tokenize their travel journeys and travel experiences. Thanks to NFTs, crypto nomads are creating digital trails for the next generation to follow.