Satoshi Nakamoto’s message on Bitcoin’s genesis block as inspiration for Tokenaire’s Timecapsule feature.

While blockchain startups race to tokenize everything from oil reserves to money, the glaringly obvious hasn’t been attempted: Tokenizing People. Tokenaire Ltd, a tech and blockchain startup located in the heart of London, has announced that it will be the world’s first to tokenize people on a large scale. Find out more at: https://www.tokenaire.club/

We live in strange times. On the one hand, there’s evidence that we long to be heard by everyone. People on platforms such as Twitter can be so invigorated by the ability to mass broadcast that some go as far as to incite confrontation deliberately, daring others to challenge them openly, for the thrill of it.

On the other hand, we’re addicted to transience. We send and receive reams of messages which are large in number, but short on content. The average text message takes 5 seconds to read and contains less than 7 words. Messages disappear from our minds as soon as they disappear from our screens. There are even dedicated apps to making content vanish: Snapchat is engineered for that exact purpose and is used by millions.

But while the internet is great at giving us a global audience, there’s that ever-present “delete button” just off to one side, hovering at the ready in case we ever need it. Psychologically, it’s very comforting. Something might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but if we change our minds later, a simple mouse-click will take care of it.

Some of the most memorable moments in history however, the ones that still inspire or haunt us today, are times when individuals committed themselves to a grand purpose or a great burden, boldly crossing a point of no return. Julius Caesar paused on the banks of the Rubicon to say, “ālea iacta est (the die has been cast)” before conquering Rome. Crossing the Rubicon was a declaration of war against the Roman Senate and an irrevocable act leading to armed conflict. Another notorious example is Hernán Cortés burning his ships after landing in Mexico. Grossly outnumbered by the Aztecs, he annihilated any option for his men to retreat and flee for home. The only way to stay alive was to fight.

Bitcoin’s Genesis Block

Commiting to an ideal is a highly-esteemed human quality. Crypto enthusiasts will remember for a long time the words Satoshi Nakamoto left permanently etched on Bitcoin’s genesis block,

“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.

Needless to say, the strength of that message would have been much diluted if there was delete-button next to it. But there isn’t. Therein lies a fundamental beauty of the blockchain: it is irreversible.

While working on the development of Tokenaire, it was this quality of committing something to the blockchain forever that we really wanted to bring out. Despite the overwhelming transience we’re used to on the internet — those throwaway texts and tweets which matter only in the moment — we felt sure that there must be things we as people will want to stand by. We felt sure that we will encounter pivotal moments in our lives when an irreversible commitment is the best form of statement. We felt sure that we will want to celebrate, to protest, to make something count. Being tokenized on the blockchain makes all of this possible.