Cryptocurrencies have made it possible to trade all sorts of things in a virtual universe. Ever since the invention and creation of Blockchain to support the Cryptocurrency Bitcoin, its industry has been booming. The Blockchain has been harnessed by various industries integrating them into everyday business, and Cryptocurrencies have flourished into thousands of different coins and payment methods. We are officially in the era of the creation of the Metaverse, which explicitly uses Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, virtual design, and art to build a virtual universe. With this, like any society, you need a culture that can facilitate trading and commerce, which can only be done with the solid foundation of a currency. The newest addition to the Metaverse is arguably the most important and something that has caused quite a stir; the NFT market.
Why has the NFT market caused a stir?
NFTs, also known as Non-Fungible Tokens, are financial security consisting of digital data stored in a blockchain. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the Blockchain and can be transferred by the owner, allowing NFTs to be sold and traded. According to SkyQuest Technology, the Global Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Market was valued at USD 15.70 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach USD 122.43 Billion by 2028. NFTs can really be anything digital, from music to games, and even artificial intelligence or even uploading your brain digitally to a computer. However, the real explosion in the NFT market has come in simple artwork.
One company called WEYU has taken this a step further by asking whether NFTs can be socially sustainable and even be used to help people in need. WEYU was founded in 2021 with the mission “to make sure everyone can easily participate in this revolutionary technology that NFTs bring into the world.” They are the first multi-chain platform for the NFT resale market. The NFT market has often been quite a niche market, with most people being overwhelmed by its technology and abundance of information.
However, to grow this market and attract new clientele, processes need to be made easier and simpler. WEYU has done this by creating WEYU Pieces, a social impact NFT in collaboration with the UNHCR (The United Nations High Commission for Refugees). WEYU Pieces crowdsources art created by refugees on The Blockchain. “WEYU Pieces pushes the boundaries of Blockchain technology, showcasing yet another influential use case for NFTs through social impact initiatives.”
WEYU’s initial campaign
The first campaign consists of highly unique NFTs created by artist NFN Kalyan. Three original pieces of artwork were donated to WEYU and broken up into 6075 pieces. Each piece was re-created alongside 144 refugees from around the world, who digitally hand drew each piece. All funds created from this first campaign will go to the UNHCR. This one campaign is an excellent example of how to further the use of technology to help non-governmental organizations and some of the world’s most vulnerable people. WEYU is also launching a series called YU Launch, a platform containing simple and user-friendly tools for anybody, anywhere, to create their own NFT. It has been quite hard to do this, especially if you are new to this industry, so this could be a massive opportunity for beginners to get involved.
So, could we use this as a blueprint for the future? Could we see the tech industry becoming more socially responsible? Could NFTs provide an opportunity for anyone, regardless of race, religion, or nationality, to make a living? Is tech4good becoming the norm? Well, it is certainly looking that way, and the future of technology is ever-changing and ever-innovating.
