What Are POAP NFTs?

Just like the NFT industry as a whole, POAP, which stands for "Proof of Attendance Protocol," has grown very quickly in recent years. At first, the protocol was seen as a simple way for Web3 communities to get commemorative NFTs. However, in 2022, it went through a lot of changes, including getting $10 million in investments and being incorporated.

Before diving into this piece, you may want to catch up on some relevant stories, like Magic Eden has made NFT royalties optional, or The "Crip Ya Enthusiasm" Video Featuring Snoop Dogg and Astro Project Has Been Released.

Even though POAP is widely used in the ecosystem of non-fungible technologies, most NFT enthusiasts still don't know what the platform's full potential is. Many people are content to just follow a link, get a token of appreciation, and move on without investigating the potential impact of POAP on blockchain technology and Web3 subculture. David Chung, who is in charge of communications for the company, and Anthony Bertolino, who is in charge of growth, have both said that POAP has done well in the constantly changing NFT industry.

In a nutshell, POAP is a system that utilizes blockchain technology to let people make digital badges or collectibles. This startup has been around since 2019, when it was first presented at ETHDenver. POAP works like the other platforms in the NFT ecosystem in that it is a market where NFTs can be made. To be more precise, these NFTs are a particularly particular kind of commemorative badge. These non-fungal therapies are also known as POAPs.

That's accurate; both the platform and the badge-like NFTs made with it are known as POAPs. Even if there are other commemorative NFT platforms out now, most people still refer to them as "POAPs" since that's what the Proof of Attendance Protocol was the first of. You might think of it as a kind of genericization, similar to how Kleenex® has become the de facto brand name for facial tissues.

The main goal of the POAP platform is to make it easy for event organizers, project creators, and regular Joes to make commemorative tokens that can be used to record events, activities, and memories on the blockchain. People have been collectors since before recorded history began. Recent examples include baseball cards, movie tickets, and concert tickets. Or if we go far back in time, it would be something like handing shells amongst the tribesmen. When it comes to digital collectibles, POAP was an early protocol. Because it is based on blockchain technology, your treasures will remain safe and secure indefinitely without the need for your attention.

As the NFT community expanded during 2021, POAPs were a popular way to thank people for attending events, participating in Twitter Spaces, receiving NFT drops, joining Discord servers, and more. POAPs eventually became a sign of social status, which made people want to get a lot of them on OpenSea in the hopes of getting benefits in the future. One of the most well-known examples of an artist or developer using POAPs to whitelist holders for future drops is Gmoney's Admit One collection. As POAPs become more useful, people who have been to previous events and want to buy NFT tickets for future events will need to have a POAP.

But as Bertolino points out, the protocol is set up in a way that anyone, not just those who are familiar with blockchain technology, can become issuers. Even though portability, transferable provenance, and digital ownership that can't be changed are all features of POAP and NFTs in general, this is still true. In this situation, it's clear that the POAP is in charge of spreading the use of NFTs. When discussing the platform's potential applications, Bertolino mentions that POAPs may be made for any kind of physical or digital event. From "a personal occasion, such as a wedding or a birthday," to "a communal event, such as a Twitter Space," as Bertolino put it: you are free to do anything you want with POAP. You may use it for token-gating, as a loyalty badge for the same 10 people who attend your event every year, or as the foundation for a tight-knit online group of friends. It's simple to get there. That's the term I think we should use. That’s how Chung stressed that anyone could use it.

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