BC Business
As the latest tech buzzword wins converts, B.C. companies join the digital gold rush.
Blockchain is the new art gallery. Just ask Vancouver’s WestCoastNFT, which has teamed up with the Hong Kong-based MetaArt Club, holder of nearly 10,000 NFT works by 35 digital artists. Buyers gain membership to the Metaverse Museum, and those with 20 pieces can turn them into one of 494 “Gold Rare” NFTs. For each of the latter, collectors earn “ArtMiles” they can exchange for artwork.
If they aren’t making any more land, nobody told Vancouver-headquartered TerraZero. The self-described virtual real estate developer recently completed one of the first metaverse mortgages, on the Ethereum-based Decentraland platform. Even in the metaverse, the bank wins. The mortgage holder can use the digital property right away–to build on or to host a business, for example–but TerraZero owns the land NFT until the loan is paid off.
What is the metaverse without shopping? Simply Better Brands, a Vancouver-based outfit focused on what it calls plant-based, holistic wellness and lifestyle products for millennials and Gen Z, took the plunge by joining forces with metaverse player New Frontier Presents. Having gamified its CBD brand, PureKana Wellness, Simply Better plans to create other shopping experiences for virtual and augmented reality, tablet and mobile.