YEAR IN REVIEW
Chris Washburn ’08 is a DJ at Moonies Bar & Nightclub on The Commons and has been an investor in cryptocurrency since 2016. Thomas Kerrigan/The Ithacan. All NFTs courtesy of Washburn.
L O C A L D J C H R I S WA S H B U R N C A S H E S O U T O N V I R A L CRYPTOCURRENCY NON-FUNGIBLE TOKEN TREND I made a lot of money through this. You should check it out.’” Cryptocurrency has a long and complicated hen Chris Washburn ’08 was made aware of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in summer history dating back to the 1980s, though the 2021, he was skeptical and critical. He wondered phenomena truly gained recognition after at first why any intelligent person would the launch of Bitcoin in 2009. From there, hundreds spend so much money on some pixel art or a of different coins have entered the market with varying levels of success and recognition, and cartoon character. Despite the speculation, Washburn de- the price of Bitcoin has gone from $1 in 2011 to cided to take the risk and purchase his first $36,850.10 in 2022. NFTs are the latest trend in NFT from the “Shiboshi” NFT collection. the cryptocurrency world Now, he is deeply involved with the and have gained masgrowing NFT community and is sive attention in the working to create a collection of “It isn’t just about last year. NFTs use his own. the artwork. It’s the blockchain, Washburn, better known by his a system used to stage name DJ Washburn, is a DJ about what they record the transacat Moonies Bar & Nightclub on come with.” tion and authenticThe Commons and founder of ity of cryptocurrenWashburn Entertainment. cy, to authenticate Washburn was first exposed to -Chris Washburn the ownership of cryptocurrency and NFTs through unique digital media. one of his favorite pastimes: poker. The Mark Volkov, a senior comhigh-risk, high-reward nature of cryptocurputer science major at Ithaca College, rency made it a popular phenomenon in the poker community, their similarities being what explained the range of what can be made into drove Washburn to take his chances and invest an NFT. “NFTs are not considered a currency but in crypto. “I had a friend who was playing poker are non-fungible tokenized digital assets that can professionally, going around the world and playing be minted, bought, sold and transferred,” Volkov online,” Washburn said. “He was big into Bitcoin said. “The scope of NFTs, as defined by the Etheand cryptocurrency, and in 2016, he told me, ‘Hey, reum Foundation, is anything that is unique that
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BY MIKE ROSS
needs provable ownership.” NFTs have received mainstream popularity outside the realm of crypto. Celebrities are showing off their NFTs as profile photos, and news programs and late-night talk shows are discussing NFTs. Some artists like A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Lil Durk and Meek Mill have mentioned creating mixtapes only people with NFTs will have access to. Moonies posted an image to Instagram on Jan. 20 of two potential designs for a DJ Washburn NFT. Both depict DJ Washburn in an “Ithaca is Moonies” T-shirt and have since seen more new variations on Washburn’s personal Instagram. While the NFTs were originally created as a joke, Washburn has been considering selling them alongside exclusive benefits at the club. “There’s no utility or functionality of them yet,” Washburn said. “However, I have thought about how they could be applicable to Moonies. … Maybe whoever buys a $10 or $20 NFT could skip the line or get a special discount on something.” Junior Kristen Stefanick is one of countless college students who has developed an interest in NFTs. “I first heard about NFTs through my brother who invested in them over the summer,” Stefanick said. “I was very skeptical, and I thought he would lose all of his money. Since then, he’s made 10 times his initial investment.” Washburn said that his interest in
