What if NFTs could tokenize static, dynamic and responsive UI components, then reassemble them into websites and UIs?
Could this be a different solution to decentralizing the web and its interfaces into decentralized protocols? Could this unlock composability at the interface and application layer in new ways?
Centrally-hosted websites directing users to interfaces deployed to IPFS are functional but seem like a v1 solution. Projects like Farcaster and Lens push on this further, with many teams building independent clients on their protocols. Teams like Fleek and ENS are building new infrastructure that also seem promising.
But regulation of centrally-hosted interfaces (even if directed to IPFS or operated by a DAO of governance token holders) is looming. The CFTC’s recent case against Ooki DAO is a preview of where things are heading. And the end state cannot be a world with tens of thousands of interfaces into the same protocols.
There must be a more decentralized vision for the web.
In 2020, Jesse Walden described NFTs as “Media Legos.” How far we can take this idea and extend it? Could NFTs be website and UI legos?
https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1301669871789445122?s=20&t=ojx-FDW3MbRApnZ-ufCvzg
Lately, a lot of the innovation in crypto has been in NFTs and their TokenURI metadata. Today they point to decentralized media files like images, text, songs, video and podcasts on IPFS. Some dynamically update based on activity on-chain and off-chain.
But what if they instead pointed to website layouts, interface elements, responsive UI components, buttons, programs and scripts? Could Uniswap’s UI be tokenized into NFTs then reassembled by websites that simply point to a single NFT (that assembles other NFTs and their UI components)?
Could this lead to a stronger vision for a decentralized, composable web and fundamentally new innovation?
On-demand assembly of composable apps and UIs
New apps and experiences
New marketplaces and supply chains
New forms of indexing and search
New developer tools and infrastructure
Who is working on this?
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