Neal Stephenson is the author of the science fiction novel SnowCrash published in 1992, there it establishes the terms of Metaverse, Avatar and the application of massive role-playing games, which for several years have already been lived in the digital world and that lead us towards the NFT (Non-Fungible Token).
The biggest companies on the planet are investing in the Metaverse theme and the creation of NFTs. Microsoft made one of the largest acquisitions in history buying a video game company for more than $60 billion. Facebook changed its name to Meta focusing everything on the Metaverse. Google, Oracle, Apple, among others, are investing in that market, as he commented to The EconomistDavid Roa, CEO Brainlup, a laboratory that develops NFT’s.
“Last year, Mike Winkelmann, Beeple, sold his NFT for $69 million through Christie’s, the world’s most prestigious auction house,” said Roa.
What is it about?
There are many ways to use NFT and there are new applications every day. Marcus Carmo, Director, Brand Management and Digital Marketing LAC Mastercard mentions that the main categories are:
- Art, the most popular category. Before the invention of NFT’s there was no way to sell or buy digital artwork because ownership could not be traced. Today, an artist can directly create and sell her work without the need for a gallery.
- Sports memorabilia, for fans of various teams, owning memorable moments, plays or having the digital stamp of your team or player is priceless. Ethernity.io or MBA Top Shot are great exponents of this type of NFT.
- Video game assets, play to earn is a major trend, currently gamers get involved to get rewards, cryptocurrencies or even NFT’s.
- Virtual terrain, metaverses like Sandbox, Decentraland or Pavia are places where each terrain is an NFT that you can buy, build and sell. It’s a social experience and people gather at events created for the Metaverse.
“The market is developing rapidly around the world and Latin America is no exception. Increasingly, NFTs offer consumers a way to be closer to artists or brands, connecting with their passions or with relevant cultural moments”, commented Sebastián Arrechedera, Founder of Rainbow Lobster, a creative collective.
Bobby Comedy, CEO of Comedy Monster Club said that an NFT is a digital asset, any file you have on your computer, a photo, a drawing, an illustration, a song that has a purchase-sale contract in some blockchain. “There are already community models that are working in other latitudes, especially in the United States, where a finite number of NFTs give you access to a value proposition.”
doPWhy and why enter that market?
This is a new economy that will change the way we have access to content, art and creativity without revealing personal information, Sebastián Arrechedera considered it.
“Acquiring an NFT is a secure process, done from the platform used by creators, which in the case of Rainbow Lobster was Open Sea, the largest platform for collectors of crypto assets. There is a high level of security because everything goes through the blockchain, where any transaction that is carried out has to go through a verification open to all (proof of work) and for each of these transactions a footprint (hash) is generated, leaving record of all the movements that are made,” said Arrechedera.
For Nicolás Felizola, a renowned designer in the world of haute couture, he says that he has always loved being at the forefront. “The NFTs are taking over not only the big companies, but they are also taking over the big fashion firms globally, I decided to embark on the adventure.”
Felizola believes that the NFT is a vehicle for creativity, an investment vehicle based on the metaverse, in cryptocurrencies, “we are talking about the economy, about access to a super exclusive club.”
Nicolás Felizola’s collection is made up of 50 NFTs that will provide personalized advice for students of fashion, design and entrepreneurs. Together with a series of 500 NFT to become an active member of the community of fashion lovers with an artistic value added in each of the tokens, including iconic pieces from their fashion collections.
For Bobby Comedy it is to take advantage of the potential of this membership community model and have a direct relationship between the creator and the consumer, you do not need intermediary platforms. “You can create your digital art and put it up for sale, you need certain marketplaces but the weight of the intermediary is greatly reduced. The other great contribution is a relationship between the creator of the art project or the value proposition and the consumer, the client or the member”.
Volatility
“The NFT is a fashion and they are here to stay, before there was no way to prove that a digital work belonged to this or that person, the asset comes to solve this problem. The issue is that they are linked to cryptocurrencies, the digital certificate lives in a blockchain, so you use cryptocurrencies to buy and sell them”, mentioned Luis Gonzali, CFA, VP of Investments at Franklin Templeton Mexico.
“The drastic fall in cryptocurrencies has impacted the NFTs, the valuations are high and could still have some correction”, concluded Luis Gonzali.