Convinced that they are at the gates of the future, local artists and brands began to enter the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), described by SBH Digital's technology consultant, Juan Carlos Pedreira, as "intelligent contracts" in the world virtual.

"An NFT is the digitization of what we have in physical form and is a guarantee that a piece or a work of art belongs to what that smart contract says," explained the expert during the first NFT summit held in the Puerto Rico Museum of Art (https://www.metaver.so/), as part of the Blockchain week events on the island.

For artists, in Pedreira's opinion, NFTs represent an opportunity to generate "financial freedom."

However, according to Shirly McPhaul, one of the co-founders of the Puerto Rico Video Game Developers Association, NFTs are for anyone who makes use of creativity.

“The question is to find the piece of art that you would like to sell or the collection that you would like to put up for sale or build a collection that has some kind of utility, which is particularly useful for influencers or people who run online communities. ”, she maintained.

The renowned Puerto Rican tattoo artist Juan Salgado was one of those who recently decided to enter the NFTs with the sale of his first digital art called The Lotus Diamond.

Like Salgado, fashion designer Liz Isabelle, who has her brand The Alluring Peacock, took advantage of the world of NFTs to sell her pieces, to the point that her most recent collection was launched yesterday in this format.

“In the future, we will be able to wear these clothes that I am wearing virtually and all of this in a creative space that is larger than the physical space that we currently have,” he said, referring to the metaverse, an immersive experience through the Internet, which is gaining ground.

Medalla launches its first NFT Medalla launches its first NFT

After studying the business potential of NFTs, Medalla Light decided to launch its first artwork in this format today.

The piece was developed by the creative team of the DDB Latina advertising agency in collaboration with fashion designer Liz Isabelle and is inspired by the Cervecera de Puerto Rico brand.

“It is an exaltation to the genesis of Medalla in a 3D animation. We are also using that same animation format in the T-Mobile District for our screens. Whoever buys the piece will have an iconic element of the brand”, described the main marketing officer of Medalla Light, Jorge Bracero.

The piece of the Puerto Rican brand was one of the 27 that were launched on the virtual market as part of the NFT's summit. Asked about the value of the work of art, Bracero indicated that it will be available at auction and that "it does not have a very high number."

He stressed that the launch of the first piece will be the beginning of other initiatives in this format. He anticipated that, for example, in the first quarter of 2022 they would launch a loyalty program associated with NFTs.

“The program would be aimed at the consumer who bets on Medalla's NFTs and what added value it could give to the brand. For example, the owners of NFTs could have free tickets for the concerts sponsored by Medalla, they could have exclusive shirts and hats, among others”, he underlined.

How to bring something tangible (like beer) to the metaverse, which is intangible, asked this medium.

“The beer is tangible, but the brand image is not. In this intangible dimension (metaverse) where emotions are important, it is impossible for us not to measure the consumer's pride in the local beer. It does not seem foreign to us to venture into this side of intangibility with the NFT because we already do it in many things with the product and the brand is a symbol that represents different emotions for the consumer”, answered Bracero.

The NFT community in Puerto Rico The NFT community in Puerto Rico

Both Bracero and McPhaul acknowledged that the NFT community in Puerto Rico is small, but noted that it is growing.

The Medalla Light executive stressed that, as the industry is new, the current number of users of this format does not necessarily represent the future.

“We are betting on a technology that is here to stay. Within our marketing tools, we understand that this is going to be an important tool such as social networks right now”, he anticipated.

McPhaul, meanwhile, added that the number of artists betting on NFTs could be higher, but misinformation is the main deterrent.

He acknowledged that this type of technology lends itself to fraud, but defended that the same thing happens with other platforms.

“The community is growing, but there is still a lot of resistance to misinformation. People are not very educated on how they work and I think education is necessary”, he pointed out.