With the non-fungible token (NFT) movement in Malaysia definitely growing day by day, we’ve decided to start a series tracking what sort of local NFT news or activity happens in a week.
It’s where we’ll have a look back on what the biggest NFT news of the week (and sometimes maybe the prior week) was, point out any new NFT platforms that have caught our eye, as well as what Malaysia’s NFT community is abuzz about, and more.
Although this week feels like a relatively slower one for exciting NFT content in comparison to earlier weeks, here’s what has unfolded in the scene recently.
In the news
A group of final-year postgraduate students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) are now running a charity project called Crypto-Nate. It takes the form of a virtual campaign that tackles the subject of infertility and is called the Arts for ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) campaign.
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) students rounded up 12 local artists who featured their art in the form of NFTs to create social awareness and raise funds for Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation (TAFF).
Using these NFT arts, they’re aiming to shed light on the common yet still-taboo subject of infertility, while raising monetary benefits to sponsor fertility treatments for B40 couples.
The campaign is targeting to raise around RM100K from the 12 paintings, each of which they expect to see a minimum bid of RM12K on.
All 12 NFTs will be put on auction on January 29 from 1PM to 5PM via Crypto-Nate’s social media platforms, but pre-bidding will start on January 23 onwards.
Artists like Sue Anna Joe, Arif Rafhan, and Vivian Ng are just a few of the names contributing to the cause with aptly-themed pieces.
Malaysia’s Queen, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, who also founded and leads TAFF, has had Arts for ART presented to her by the UKM team.
What she actually thinks of NFTs in general, we don’t know yet, but it’s interesting to see that the movement has reached royal attention and penetrated educational institutions (a public university, no less).
It’s too early to say that the Queen and UKM’s recognition of NFT usage for charity points to a general acceptance of NFTs by the wider Malaysian community, but if more public institutions begin jumping on the trend… remember that we predicted the possibility here first.
Previously…
As mentioned, it’s been a bit of a slow week, so ICYMI (in case you missed it), here’s a throwback to a few more exciting NFT events that took place this month.
Most recently, AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes was gifted an NFT from Jay Chou’s collection, Phanta Bear. It cost 1 ETH, which was about RM14K at the time of writing then, but today translates to about RM12.6K.
At the same time, Tony had cryptically announced, “Watch airasia on Internet 3.0” on an Instagram post about the gift. From that, we’re assuming that he’s teasing AirAsia’s eventual move into crypto, NFT, the metaverse, or something within that realm.
Well, let’s see what the Malaysian airline will pull out of its sleeves. We’re ready.
Another high-profile figure who had openly announced his advocacy of NFTs was Syed Saddiq, just a few days prior.
He’s selling NFTs in the form of artwork of his face to raise funds for charity, and is doing so to secure a different fundraising strategy for the Muar constituency in the long run.
According to him, federal aid is not only lacking, but can take a long time to arrive, so he’s taking welfare funding matters into his own hands through NFTs.
Coming up next
From our end, here’s what you can expect to see next week.
We’re speaking to the folks over at Pentas.io, an NFT marketplace started by locals, and will be interviewing a Malaysian residing in Singapore who’s using NFTs to pay homage to our mutual love for a specific kopitiam food.
In between, we’re expecting to cover more NFT projects and events, and who knows, maybe another high-profile figure will make ripples in the scene.
- If you’ve got something NFT-related to share that’s both exciting and locally-relevant, hit us up with your story at malaysia.team@vulcanpost.com.
- Read more of our NFT content here.
Featured Image Credit: Tony Fernandes / Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) / Syed Saddiq
