Latin American companies bet on NFTs to diversify and generate business

Named Word of the Year by the Collins Dictionary in 2021, NFT, an acronym for non-fungible tokens, generated $23 billion in transactions globally last year, according to Drapp’s Industry Report.

The growth of these unique, different and irreplaceable digital assets, which are registered by the blockchain system to guarantee their authenticity, has moved Latin American companies from sectors such as human resources, real estate, events and fashion, which seek to take advantage of the new trend in the world of technology to diversify and generate business.

For Fausto Vanin, co-founder of OnePercent, a blockchain startup involved in tokenization through NFTs, this phenomenon is motivated by the fact that non-fungible tokens represent digital assets that are very close to the culture of end consumers.

“NFTs do not have as strong a relationship with the capital market, which often scares people who are not used to investing. For this reason, they have attracted so much interest from companies from different segments. The main advantage for them is to establish a new relationship channel with consumers and fans of the brand, which opens up opportunities to do a good job of communicating with this community, listening to what really generates value for members and building something that increases the engagement. and a sense of belonging, essential for the success of a business”, Vanin says.

In the human resources sector, one of the examples is Chiefs.Group, which in March launched a blockchain platform for talent management in Latin America, with NFTs valued at R$ 11.3 million. The model allows digitizing the careers of top executives and enables a new employment relationship on demand.

With that, the professional can invest their intellectual capital in startups, companies and projects isolated according to the proposed challenge, instead of dedicating 40 hours a week exclusively to a company. Also, You now have access to a new type of compensation, via equities, which generates greater involvement and commitment to the success of the business. The first digital wallet issued was that of Ricardo Bellino, one of the founders of Elite Models Brazil, partner of Trump Realty Brazil and current CEO of the holding company Bellino’s Unlimited.

“When transactions in the world of work take place on the blockchain, we have a way to ensure greater reliability and transparency in relationships. This registration generates reputation for companies, which will be able to demonstrate the link of a certain notable executive in their business. in addition to benefiting the executive, who will show his activity to the market beyond the borders of the already old ‘full time job’. By making this technology viable, we are leading the Open Talent Economy movement in Latin America and building the future of work“, highlights Cristiane Mendes, founder and CEO of Chiefs.Group.

NFTs as collateral for real estate credit

In the real estate sector, NFT began to be used as collateral for real estate loans. In March of this year, Netspaces, creator of a digital property in Brazil, made its first financing with NFTs in the country.

The negotiation reached the value of R$ 129 thousand and took place in Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil. The buyer was the 49-year-old laborerm Docelina Conceição de Barros Severo, who until then had never had access to real estate credit.

According to netspaces CPO Jonathan Doering Darcie, the goal is to democratize and simplify access to private property. “This model allows people who usually do not have access to credit to buy their real estate digitally. At the same time, the lender will have the opportunity to do it much faster and with the same security as before in terms of collateral. All this with much lower transaction fees and costs, including transaction time that takes place in a matter of hours instead of weeks.“, he says.

Time, in fact, is one of the main differentials of the model, with the substitution of a long process, often without conclusion, for another that can last 15 minutes, from the approval of the credit to the constitution of the guarantee on the property and the NFT. Proprietary technology built into the Netspaces blockchain is what allows the tokens to be used as collateral, making the process faster and easier.

Attendance at NFT events: POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol)

In partnership with VTEX DAY 2022, Converge, a business unit of the augmented reality solutions startup, R2U, developed a set of 11 NFTs that worked as a certificate of participation for those who visited the digital transformation event for retail and industry in Latin America.

To win the VTEX DAY NFT, visitors participated in a challenge that involved finding 11 digital totem poles distributed throughout the fair. Each totem displayed a video about the action with a unique QR code that, when scanned, released an NFT from the collection developed specifically for the event. By “hunting” the 11 NFTs, it was possible to unlock a “super NFT”, entitled to a 20% discount on VTEX DAY 2023 tickets.

When the visitor scanned the first QR code, they were directed to a registration page, where they would need to enter basic data. After the event, he could submit his wallet number, if he already had one. Otherwise, he simply followed the instructions made available to him to create a Metamask wallet. By reporting the wallet number, the NFTs would be duly transferred. In total, 350 people collected their NFTs.

Non-fungible tokens in the world of fashion

Recently, in another innovative partnership, Converge helped menswear brand Aramis launch NFT Aramis, which allows customers to join the brand’s VIP club. The Converge team adapted the 3D files of the MetaHeat phygital jacket (physical and digital) for NFT, a piece that has three levels of heating power and temperature control through a powerbank and forms the new Aramis winter collection , the “Unwinter”.

During the presale of the MetaHeat jacket, named after the metaverse, Aramis made the model available digitally in NFT form, in a limited quantity of 25 units, which were sold at Open Sea, an NFT marketplace.

At the time of purchase, the token becomes an access key for VIP clients who will participate in an exclusive experience club, Clube Red Aramis. Converge supported clients throughout the process of creating a digital wallet and transferring the asset if necessary.

“We are excited about the challenge of helping Aramis, one of the most innovative menswear retail brands in Brazil, to develop the first action in this segment involving NFT in the country. The use of the non-fungible token as a link between the physical and the digital world, and being the key to access a VIP Client Club that will have totally different benefits, is one of the trends in the world of fashion at a global level.”, comments Caio Jahara, co-founder and CEO of R2U and chief growth officer of Converge.