I came across POAP, when BTCMarket emailed me that I won one of the limited edition POAP from Ajla Tomljanovic during the Australia Open.
https://app.poap.xyz/token/3564880
So naturally, I got curious to find out what is the fuss about POAP.
POAP stands for Proof of Attendance Protocol, so in the world of blockchain, effectively this is like a proof of attendance to a certain event. In the olden days we attended a music concerts and retain the tickets as the memento to the event, this is effectively the same but verified in blockchain means that no one can dispute it and also your privacy is being protected.
For the event organisers this allows them to communicate to you about the events, before during or after to keep you in the loop of what is going on and also to sell you more what you are interested in.
The POAP is adopting ERC-721 standard, which is utilised for NFTs. Like an NFT over time the price will appreciate, especially if they are rare collections and people are looking for them.
Application
So thinking this a step further and looking at the real world, where everything seems still so primitive, one can relate to a few things that can be done by utilising the POAP mechanism to improve customer experience and effectiveness of implementation.
Here are some of the things that can use POAP which results in better implementation:
- COVID-19 check-in mechanism, this will be better because you can inform people in realtime and validation is non centralised which means your privacy is protected.
- Vote in Government election, however this might be counter productive. The government is centralised and will probably never trust the decentralised system, but some government and moving toward adopting blockchain interestingly. This gives the validation that someone actually attended the voting, thus preventing fraud. At the same time protecting the privacy.
Requirement
To be able to accept and store POAP you will need the following
- An Ethereum Address, this can be obtained from wallet provider like metamask, blockchain, etc.
- QR code to scan from the organiser or issuer that allows you to accept and add them to your collection
Final Thought
It is worth noting that even though it is an NFT, POAP lived on Ethereum sidechain called xDai. You can move it to the Ethereum, but the cost associated with this will be hefty. So most people leave it in xDai and accessibe via POAP App.
Thinking about the future whether the price will increase will be like looking at the crystal ball. If you have your ticket to Michael Jackson concert now, does it worth a small sum or money?