Some top executives at Alphabet's (GOOGL) YouTube are leaving the video sharing platform for the new roles in the crypto world, as the company said it is exploring features for its video creators to capitalize on NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
While the shakeup may have caught some observers flatfooted, one industry analyst said Monday that he was not surprised by the move into the "wild west" of NFTs.
Ryan Wyatt, YouTube's head of gaming, tweeted last week that he was leaving in the coming weeks to join Polygon Technology, a company in the Web3 space, where he will lead the Polygon Studios division.
"I am fascinated by blockchain app development and am beyond thrilled to enter the Web3 space," he said.
Advocates described web3 as a version of the internet that is decentralized and based on blockchain.
'Rise of the Metaverse'
In addition, Jamie Byrne, senior director of creator partnerships, is leaving to join the core leadership team at NFT venture Bright Moments, where he will oversee operations, partnerships, and the development of its content and IP businesses.
"After 15.5 years, I have made the difficult decision to leave YouTube. I feel incredibly lucky and honored to have been able to play a part in the history of YouTube and the development of the Creator Economy," Byrne said.
Global head of product partnerships Heather Rivera is also leaving the company.
Meanwhile, CEO Susan Wojcicki said last week in a letter on the company's 2022 priorities that YouTube is exploring features for its video creators to capitalize on NFTs.
"We’re always focused on expanding the YouTube ecosystem to help creators capitalize on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs, while continuing to strengthen and enhance the experiences creators and fans have on YouTube,” Wojcicki said.
Tamas Muller, growth manager for BrokerChooser, said it is no surprise that professionals, like Wyatt and Byrne, who helped to build the incumbents, are moving "into this new 'wild west' to experiment and harness their previous knowledge and experience.”
"With the rise of the metaverse, many creators and professionals are starting to become tired of YouTube and other similar platforms," Muller said, citing such issues as censorship, bias in recommendation algorithms, as well as becoming "outdated."
"We have seen creators leave the platform before," he said. "This will result in such top creators taking their audiences with them from the incumbent platforms like YouTube."
'A Massive Audience'
On the other hand, Muller said, as more people flow to the metaverse platforms, "a massive audience is building up in those that naturally brings the opportunity for new types of influencers to rise."
"So we have a two-way pull into metaverse," he added. "Famous influencers moving into that direction for more freedom and growing audiences serving as a base for emerging new influencers and luring already famous ones."
Despite the loss of executive talent, Keegan Francis, bitcoin and cryptocurrency specialist, Finder, said YouTube has become "such an ingrained aspect of the way that people consume content."
"YouTube also has the skills and budget to create their own metaverse offering any time they choose," he said. "It’s possible YouTube may just be waiting for a metaverse to emerge that they can profitably sink their teeth into."
Francis speculated that it might be too early for YouTube to select a particular platform, "and so they’re waiting for a dominant project to solidify their position before getting involved."
"YouTube is a massive centralized source for knowledge sharing and education," said Alex Lemberg, CEO of Nimbus Platform. "The content being produced and consumed is absolutely aligned for leveraging Smart Contracts and NFTs. Content creation and consumption will define the metaverse and Youtube will be a major player."
Lemberg added "the greatest automobiles we all covet, certainly didn't get their start with the Ford Model T."
"The metaverse may be running based on media buzz, but it is very far from doing so from a utility perspective just yet," he said, "so if they do want to catch up, they don't need to run, but rather walk at a comfortable pace to do so."
