What your Saudi phone number says about you

In Saudi, phone numbers are uniquely linked to our identities. Here's what your 050 number says about you.

The first Non-Fungible asset I’ve ever owned? My phone number. During the cell phone boom in the mid 2000s cell phone numbers were all the rage. Numbers used to get auctioned off for millions of dollars and do so to this day. In hindsight, it was bizarre to pay any amount, let alone millions, to purchase a fun-looking number. But we had no idea that this number would actually be closely linked to our identities and stay with us forever.

In Saudi, your number is similar to your crypto wallet. Yes, you can change it. But it would be such a hassle transferring all your contacts (tokens) to a new number (wallet) and updating it across all platforms and OTP systems.

I’ve been trying to write a piece on why the Saudi market is perfect for NFTs, in which I reference the obsession with phone numbers. In a way, phone numbers are almost identical to NFTs: they are non-fungible (no one owns the same phone number as you), provide full ownership, and are easily transferrable. The only thing missi…