Video streaming major YouTube is exploring the lucrative world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a bid to support its content creators with more features and rewards. CEO Susan Wojcicki outlined YouTube's plans for the world of NFTs in her yearly letter to content creators.

"We're always focused on expanding the YouTube ecosystem to help creators capitalise on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs, while continuing to strengthen and enhance the experiences creators and fans have on YouTube," she wrote in the letter, per a Bloomberg report. However, she did not provide any details on how YouTube would go about it.

The letter also touched on various emerging sectors that the Google-owned company will focus on, like gaming, shopping, music, and Shorts--its short video format similar to Instagram Reels. Wojcicki highlighted that YouTube Shorts has claimed over 5 trillion views since its 2020 launch.

To Wojcicki and her team, everything happening in Web 3.0 has been "a source of inspiration to continue innovating on YouTube". They are now exploring possibilities of emerging technologies in the Web 3.0 space for creators.

"The past year in the world of crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralised autonomous organizations (DAOs) has highlighted a previously unimaginable opportunity to grow the connection between creators and their fans," Wojcicki said in the letter.

NFTs are digital assets with a unique digital signature stored in blockchains that make them one-of-a-kind assets. They come in various forms such as photos, videos, and audio. Data from blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis shows NFTs have become a $44.2 billion industry in the past two years.

YouTube's move to this space will surprise no one, as many social media companies and retailers are in the process of doing the same or have already integrated NFTs into their business model.

Last week, Twitter announced the launch of a tool that will enable users to show off their personal JPEGS as NFTs via a hexagonal profile picture. Users need to link their Ethereum wallets with their Twitter accounts to enjoy this feature.

Meta-owned social media platform Instagram is also preparing a feature similar to Twitter's, where users can display the non-fungible tokens they hold on the site.

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Reddit, another popular social platform that reportedly had monthly users of over 430 million until October last year, is also working on something similar, according to reports. Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told Techcrunch on January 27 that the NFT project is only being tested internally as of now.

In September, the short-form video platform TikTok also announced an NFT collection designed by its top creators.

YouTube already has various successful content creators making educational videos about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, decentralised finance and related tech. Some creators of viral videos on the platform have converted their videos into NFTs and sold them for large sums of money.

For example, the ‘Charlie Bit Me NFT’, an NFT of a video depicting a baby biting his brother's finger, was sold for $761,000 last year.