Marvion™ CEO Launches His Community Engagement Initiative – “CEO Insights” – And Shares His Thoughts about the Business

Bonanza Goldfields Corp. (BONZ) plans to acquire Marvion^TM and is pleased to announce that Marvion^TM interim CEO, Julian So, has launched his community engagement initiative – “CEO Insights”.  This is an opinion piece from Marvion^TM‘s top executive and Julian aims to use this channel to engage the growing NFT community by sharing his views of the overall NFT market as well as his plans for Marvion^TM.

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Commenting on the initiative, Julian said, “The NFT market has seen astronomical growth in the last few months.  Some stakeholders, such as the regulators as well as established financial institutions, may view the current state of the market akin to the Wild West.  Hence, the purpose of the letter is to demonstrate to them that there are responsible players within this nascent industry.”

“I also hope to use this commentary to share my views on some of the issues relating to NFTs as well as those that impact the NFT market – such as government regulations, intellectual property issues, potential environmental impact from NFTs, etc.  Over time, I intend to raise these issues in my subsequent articles and share some solutions that Marvion^TM is working on.  I firmly believe that we are part of the overall NFT ecosystem, hence it is our responsibility to do the right things as well as do things right.  Only then, will the NFT market flourish in the long run” Julian added.

CEO Insights: How Marvion^TM hybrid-NFTs are disrupting the NFT landscape by making it safer and more inclusive

If you picked up the news today, you surely found some new information about NFTs. This is because, for months, the world has been talking continuously about what the crypto community knows as non-fungible tokens – crypto tokens generated and stored on blockchain technology.

Their record sales, as well as the involvement of key personalities, from Elon Musk, to Snoop Dogg, has made the market an extremely interesting and thoroughly discussed one.

1. Several market highlights have drawn attention and increased interest in NFTs

The world was taken by storm when, in March 2021, the work of Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, sold for $69.3 million, during a Christie’s auction. Titled Everydays: The First 5000 Days, the NFT was a digital collage that combined daily photos from the artist, ever since launching his Everydays project, in May 2007.

This huge NFT sale, which remains the biggest ever, made many people want to understand the phenomenon and research similar purchases. Mainstream audiences were then introduced to a whole new universe, where names like CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties generated impressive digital transactions.

Indeed, Cryptopunks continue to draw attention and surprise blockchain enthusiasts with their record figures. Created by American Studio Larva Labs in 2007, in a limited edition of 10,000 unique collectible characters showing apes, humans, and aliens, these represent 24×24 pixel images that were generated on the Ethereum blockchain algorithmically.

Although, upon their launch, they could be claimed for free by crypto enthusiasts, this year, they drove record sales. As Business Insider reports, in August 2021, CryptoPunk #7252 sold for $5.3 million, driving over 100% profit for the seller.

Still, this is not the most valuable CryptoPunk overall, as there are several others in the lead, the record being held by CryptoPunk 7523, sold for $11.75 million, at Sotheby’s.

2. NFT sales volume surged to $2.5 bln., in the first half of 2021

Impressive sales like these ones have attracted interest from people who, up until recently, were less involved in the crypto community and which knew little about NFTs. Still, as more and more artists, fashion brands, production studios and creators are launching their own NFTs, consumers are analysing their options and many of them are interested in getting a share of the pie.

Market figures support the premise. According to Statista, this year, from August 14 to September 15, over 94,000 NFT art transactions took place globally, with over 57% representing secondary sales.

Moreover, as DappRadar, quoted by Reuters, emphasised, NFT sales volume surged to $2.5 bln., in the first half of 2021.

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3. The first NFTs were minted on the Ethereum blockchain

To mint an NFT means to tokenise digital work. This involves uploading the file to a marketplace like Makersplace, SuperRare etc. to issue a token which guarantees its authenticity. In order for the process to happen, the creator needs to pay “gas fees” – a sum associated with the expenses that are used for the computing energy required by the Ethereum blockchain, the first and main NFT blockchain.

The more complicated the contract or the transaction, the more gas fees are applied.

Sometimes, NFTs are mined in fractions, which means that several users may buy parts of the same non-fungible token. Through fractionalisation, some works of art and collectibles could be owned by several crypto enthusiasts. This ensures sales happen faster and, even, that they happen at all.

4. NFTs are valuable because they authenticate and track ownership of digital goods

NFTs are used to authenticate and track the ownership of unique digital items, from art, to collectibles and other goods. How they work is that each non-fungible token has its own data – ID, code, information -, which ensures it can’t be replicated.

Their non-fungible character means that, unlike currency, for example, which may be interchanged, NFTs may not be exchanged like-for-like, nor can they be divided. Moreover, due to their traceability, NFTs carry with them their pricing and ownership history, making it always possible to identify the actual creator.

What made them particularly interesting when they first started gaining awareness was that they enabled artists and collectors to actually have ownership over digital assets, a thing that was extremely complicated before. In a world where everyone shares photos and videos through different touchpoints, ensuring that something remains unique and authentic is extremely valuable.

In this context, digital artists and producers could sell one-of-a-kind works, while collectors could know that they have a piece of something that made history, be it a clip, an image, an article, a card, a Tweet etc. This enabled the development of an actual digital market, which accommodated artists, producers, collectors, investors, as well as opportunists.

Some of the most famous NFTs include the first Tweet that has ever been shared on the social network, the Charlie Bit My Finger video which had record-breaking streams on YouTube, an animated Gif of the world-famous Nyan Cat, as well as the Andy Warhol: Machine Made, a series of 5 non-fungible tokens of digital art created by Warhol in the 1980s and auctioned at Christie’s.

Another important aspect about NFTs is that their codes may host smart contracts or similar elements which may only function if certain conditions are met. This imposes a set of automated rules that are self-enforcing and which users need to respect.

5. The NFT landscape is marked by flaws and concerns

Extremely attractive to worldwide audiences, the NFT landscape does have, however, some flaws. Experts have been pointing out that non-fungible tokens are not the solution for which everyone was hoping and buyers and sellers are starting to notice that at their own expense.

5.1. NFTs in isolation lack true intimate engagement

The process of buying and selling NFTs is more of a transaction than an experience.

With physical art and collectibles, the purchase and ownership, although often considered investments, sparked joy and involved a series of other activities. Collectors, for example, would go to galleries and discover the pieces themselves, they would talk to curators and artists, meet people with similar passions. The feeling of belonging to a certain group and of supporting talent was a strong one and it represented an important pillar of the decision-making process.

NFTs have great potential to create that intimate fan and artist engagement but this can be easily lost if a true community is not built.  There is a risk that much of the joy and connection with an NFT are lost. From behind their screens, fans place bids for their desired pieces, knowing that this could be as far as they go, in terms of interacting with artists and NFT creators. The action is more sterile, of course, compared to what the physical world is offering, which, for many traditional collectors and fans is a deal breaker.

5.2. The value of an NFT resides in the contract, not in the work itself

Moreover, purchasing art and collectibles would often mean that the buyer would invest in something beautiful that they could admire or in which they could take pride. Artwork like paintings, sculptures, installations, or collection items like jerseys, baseball cards etc. are often put to display, to the delight of the owners, as well as of their inner circles. Their unicity and scarcity adds value to them and makes seeing them an experience in itself.

A Monet put on display in someone’s home or office is a symbol of status, a source of beauty, a reminder of success. Its authenticity may be observed on the spot, as someone with a good eye for art will surely notice if the brushstrokes, the style or the signature comply.

Still, when it comes to NFTs, things are hardly like this. An NFT is made of two things, the smart contract and the actual work. Out of these two, only the contract is stored on blockchain. The work itself isn’t hosted there, because it is considered expensive to have something sizable on-chain.

In many cases, the digital work purchased by non-fungible token fans is available on the World Wide Web. Anyone may download an image of Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, for example, and have it on their computer. What is valuable, in the case of most NFTs, is the contract itself, which is unique and which holds information about the digital work, referencing it with a URL.

The fact that their value resides in the smart contract, offers less emotional value to NFTs, which are considered by some “glorified receipts”, as Kelani Nichole, founder of Transfer Gallery, declared for ArtNews.com.

5.3. Authenticity concerns and lack of true ownership rights threaten artists

The fact that digital art is so easily accessible and may be replicated with little effort makes forgery a high risk when it comes to the NFTs. The origin of a nun-fungible token is often associated with the crypto wallet that has minted it.

In order to showcase the system’s flaws, a hacker that goes by the name Monsieur Personne, created and put up for sale a copy of the world’s most expensive NFT, Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days. In April 2021, he downloaded the file from the Christie’s website, created an Ethereum smart contract which enabled him to mint a token that had the same ID as the original and assigned it to Beeple’s wallet. Later on, he listed it on the marketplace, drawing attention towards how vulnerable digital art is in the NFT landscape.

Indeed, in order to be legally protected, artwork needs to be registered and some proof of ownership should be recognised. Otherwise, copyright legislation will not protect the artists themselves, in case someone copies their work.

5.4. Technological and psychological barriers

There are several barriers that stay between NFTs and mass adoption.

The universe feels quite restrictive, as many blockchain tools appear to be. The community behind non-fungible tokens was created by extremely digitised and technical people, like developers and computer engineers.

In order to purchase an NFT, users need to have a crypto wallet, move from one website to another and fill in a complex signup and KYC process. They need to offer their contact details (address, phone numbers), share copies of their government IDs etc.

All these are complicated steps for someone who just wants to access an art piece and who is used to a totally different purchasing experience. Moreover, the fact that most NFTs platforms aren’t visually attractive and user-oriented, as well as the fact that they don’t offer tutorials and onboarding information increase users’ drop-off rate, making many people give up.

What this does is that it limits the NFT landscape to highly digitised audiences, creating a very prohibitive community that only welcomes crypto users. This amplifies the gap between the people that are interested and who afford NFTs and the niche pool of people who actually purchase it and benefit from them.

5.5. Environmental concerns

As the interest in NFTs is increasing, so are the environmental concerns associated with it.

According to Wired.com, the main marketplaces that sell NFT art include names like MakersPlace, Nifty, Gateway and SuperRare. All of these use the Ethereum blockchain for mining and issuing smart contracts.

In order to create tokens, Ethereum functions based on Proof of Work (PoW), which is the primary algorithm used to confirm transactions and add blocks to the chain. This Proof of Work is a high computer power and energy consumer, which also makes it a relevant source of CO2 emissions.

According to sources quoted by Finextra, selling the collection of NFT music videos from Canadian music artist Grimes – a $6 million transaction – consumed as much energy as the average EU citizen would in more than 3 decades.

6. Marvion^TM‘s hybrid-NFTs are a response to the world‘s NFTs issues

Looking to solve the main issues associated with NFTs, Marvion^TM pioneered hybrid non-fungible tokens (h-NFTs). These offer access to the digital encryption certificate specific to the industry, as well as to the unique intellectual property ownership, licence and / or rights, which have value in the real world.

Focusing on several verticals, such as esports and gaming, movies and film, comic books, music, the metaverse and beyond, Marvion^TM works with artists and production studios, to enhance and preserve the value of media and entertainment intellectual property, through h-NFTs.

The company’s objective is to bridge the gap between virtual and physical realms, driving user engagement and making hybrid non-fungible tokens accessible to audiences everywhere, without limiting its usage to crypto communities.

When users purchase a Marvion^TM hybrid NFT, they receive the following:

• A copy of the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the purchase of the master license.
• Evidence or w******* of ownership of the relevant intellectual property.
• Sub-license agreement detailing the rights of the h-NFT holder.
• Image/video/music or other file, depending on what the intangible asset is.

6.2. Top benefits of the Marvion^TM hybrid-NFTs

6.2.1. Marvion^TM‘s hybrid NFTs bring artists closer to their fans

By connecting real-world intangible assets and real-life experiences with digital goods and certificates, Marvion^TM‘s hybrid NFTs which include experience h-NFTs and a goal of building a true community encourages the intimate connection between artists and their fans, increasing engagement.

H-NFT owners may, thus, benefit from a real world intangible asset that is unique, from collectibles, as well as from invites to actual events, private movie streamings etc. These reinstate the charm and pleasure associated with owning collection items and being part of a bigger community of fans and art lovers.

6.2.2. All Marvion^TM h-NFTs undergo strict KYC

At Marvion^TM, before releasing a hybrid NFT, we perform know-your-customer procedures and ensure, to the best of our abilities, that the intellectual property that we acquire is not only authentic, but also of high quality. This is why we work with a great team of in-house specialists that select extremely trustworthy and stable partners.

6.2.3. Marvion^TM hybrid NFTs may be bought using traditional payment methods

Unlike NFTs that may only be bought with cryptocurrency, Marvion^TM hybrid non-fungible tokens will, in the future, be purchased with both blockchain and with fiat currency. The company plans to open its media hybrid NFT platform to a more diverse audience pool. If they desire, users may pay for Marvion^TM hybrid-NFTs with traditional credit and debit cards, without needing to access a crypto wallet.

Moreover, the seamless Marvion^TM platform that is compatible with several blockchains is extremely intuitive, which makes it perfect for beginners, as well as for experienced users which will enjoy a seamless experience.

6.2.4. Marvion^TM limits environmental impact by operating on blockchains that adopt a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism

Marvion^TM hybrid-NFTs are blockchain agnostic, which enables Marvion^TM to always choose the most appropriate blockchain. In the case of blockchains that adopt DPoS, only crypto miners delegated by the network users validate block transactions. This leads to a significantly lower energy consumption and, thus, to lower CO2 emissions, even when compared to PoS consensus.

7. Marvion^TM mints hybrid NFT for the movie “Lockdown”

Marvion^TM partnered with Phoenix Waters Productions and AMM Global to mint hybrid NFTs for the upcoming feature film “Lockdown”, which stars Xander Berkeley, known for his roles in Terminator 2 and The Walking Dead, as well as Hong Kong actress Anita Chui.  The thriller film is based on the coronavirus pandemic where an actor’s audition goes bad with the casting director forcing an actor (played by Kevin Leslie) to pass a number of tests, threatening to kill his associates if he fails.

On October 5^th, Marvion^TM will have on their OKEx NFT Marketplace, five h-NFTs each is redeemable into a pair of tickets to view the London film premier on October 7^th plus attendance at a cocktail reception and the opportunity to meet the cast in person.

On the week of October 11^th, about a month before the movie’s official launch, fans will be able to purchase two h-NFTs of the “Lockdown” film on the OKEx NFT Marketplace. For the film h-NFT, the buyer will own the movie file as well as the non-exclusive perpetual worldwide non-commercial and non-profit license to privately view the movie in private premises and will have a copy of the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the license to mint and sell NFTs in respect of the film, all stored on the blockchain. Based on its terms, the h-NFT owner would also be able to resell the h-NFT after viewing. Marvion^TM will be adopting the OKExChain blockchain (which adopts DPoS) for these h-NFTs to maximise energy efficiency given both companies are extremely ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) conscious.

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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com ]