Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the new craze in the digital asset market, which is sweeping the globe. In Asia, the NFT craze is likely to heat up even further.
In the last 24 hours, two separate NFT projects in Hong Kong and Singapore have been revealed. In the third quarter of this year, Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange (HKD.com) plans to introduce a one-stop NFT trading platform for artists.
The second is a new collaboration between Media Publishers — Singapore’s publishers of Vogue, Esquire, Robb Report, and Buro — and blockchain-powered advertiser VIDY to launch an NFT network for the fashion, arts, and music industries in the third quarter of this year. VIDY is a digital advertisement platform that pays viewers in VIDYCOIN, a native cryptocurrency.
An NFT one-stop-shop for artists
The Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange announced on April 8 that it plans to be one of the first digital asset exchanges in Hong Kong to offer an NFT trading platform.
The soon-to-be-launched NFT trading platform will offer artists an online platform for publishing, marketing, trading, and payment of their artworks in a variety of product categories, including digital art and encrypted collections of animation, music, and movies.
Users will be able to make offers and bids on NFTs, as well as trade and exchange tokens, using the trading platform of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange. Artists will also be able to use the site to publish their own digital artworks. Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange also plans to offer physical store exhibition facilities for artists in order to act as a one-stop-shop.
The lack of a robust trading platform for NFTs in Hong Kong’s current market is cited by Kelvin Yeung, founder, and CEO of HKD.com, as the reason for his company’s launch.
The platform, according to Yeung, will not only help local artists earn more money from their talents, but will also help the region’s art market develop.
Fashion shows, virtual Oscars, and the Met Gala
Separately, Media Publishers and VIDY announced the NFT website, which would focus on the fashion and luxury industries. The platform aims to create a virtual world that can be navigated in 360 degrees to showcase digital fashion, art, music, and architecture.
The platform’s core features, according to their official announcement today, will include the ability to mint, trade, and auction NFTs via a tokenized system, as well as the ability to host social interactions.
“Since 2020, the NFT market has grown by over 229 percent to over US$500 million. However, it is still in the early stages of growth and has a long way to go in terms of infrastructure,” said Matthew Lim, a Singaporean tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Vidy, in a press release. “People will be able to live in a parallel virtual universe where they can own a digital identity and buy products not only as a digital file but as any specific asset in their virtual land, close to their physical world, thanks to the metaverse and the emergence of digital models.”
The VIDY-Media Publishares NFT platform aims to appeal to a digitally savvy audience seeking luxury goods with low environmental impact, as well as engage creators interested in developing a virtual identity for their work and exploring new revenue streams.
“What we see is a modern artistic renaissance,” said Michael von Schlippe, president of Media Publishers. “By building an NFT platform, which basically serves as a virtual marketplace between creatives and users, we are able to provide a one-of-a-kind shoppable platform as well as community content in the forms of education, engagement, and entertainment.”
Von Schlippe described in greater detail how the platform would be used.
“We’ll be concentrating on three verticals in particular. Giving users the opportunity to build on the web is one of them. And you can build. You don’t have to be an expert to exchange, purchase, sell, mint, and tokenize your digital products — be it fashion, art, beauty, music design, or anything else,” he explained. “Then there will be a vertical that will be a more curated space where we want to establish authenticity and provide restricted access, so it becomes a scarcity and a sign of quality you can trust. And this curated space where our Vogue editors in Singapore will be able to host such events — say, a monthly digital fashion show — that will be curated by them.”
“We would add a third vertical later on,” von Schlippe said, “which would certainly add the entertainment aspect to it.” “You can make something digital, tokenize it, and show it if you’re a developer. You want to express your enthusiasm. You want to be noticed and to be seen by others. You may be able to attend a virtual Academy Awards or Met Gala.”