The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has recently taken steps to discourage the advertising of digital payment tokens (DPT) trading in public areas, citing the “highly risky” nature of such activities. So how can crypto companies communicate about DPT trading in a responsible manner? 

On January 17, MAS issued a set of guidelines discouraging the promotion of cryptocurrency trading in public areas such as public transport, venues, broadcast media, third-party websites, social media platforms, events, and roadshows. Joint activities with social media influencers and third-party websites to solicit new customers are also discouraged. 

Crypto platforms and companies are, however, permitted to promote their services on their own corporate websites, mobile applications, and official social media accounts.

The deal? Crypto companies must not trivialise the risks of trading in DPT in a manner that is inconsistent with or contradicts the risk disclosures required under the Payment Services Act.

While all this sure sounds like a mouthful, the aim of these guidelines is to protect the retail investor who could be swept off their feet by content around how seemingly easy it is to make money by trading crypto. One only has to log into TikTok to see videos of “investors” showing off huge profits buying certain tokens or sharing hacks on how to time the market in order to make a windfall.

Given the nature of a TikTok video, these numbers are rarely substantiated and you won’t really know if the creator has indeed put money into the tokens they’re promoting. 

“Markets around the world, both at the institutional and retail level, have indicated strong interest in the crypto market over the past year. Thus it’s not surprising that regulations have been enacted to encourage a prudent approach to the crypto market,” says Yusho Liu, CEO of Coinhako, a cryptocurrency exchange that’s received in-principle approval from the MAS to provide DPT services under the Payment Services Act as a major payment institution. 

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

Not suitable for the general public

Underlying the motivation for this initiative is the regulator’s view that DPT trading is not suitable for the general public. So, what is it that makes it so “highly risky”?

Edward Cooper, Head of Crypto at Revolut in London, says that while cryptocurrency can be a volatile asset class, the volatility is not what makes it riskier than, for instance, investing in stocks. This, he points out, is evidenced by the recent 20 per cent drop in Netflix’s share price in after-hours trading and the incredible 1,600 per cent rise, and subsequent fall, of GameStop’s share price in January 2021.

“The main risk is that, due to the lack of regulation in the space, there are many scams and schemes which hurt consumers that are promoted pretty aggressively, including pump-and-dump schemes on some tokens that don’t have real utility or a solid technical team behind them, but have just been created to quickly make money for their creators before being abandoned.”

In fact, Singapore isn’t the only market to clamp down on crypto advertising. Around the same time, the MAS made its announcement, the UK government shared its plans to bring cryptocurrency ads under tighter scrutiny and crackdown on “misleading” claims that may cause investors to lose money.

“At Revolut, we check every token before offering it to customers. Meaning that only high-quality tokens are listed, but many other players in the space don’t currently follow this practice. These steps by the Singapore and UK regulators will help protect investors, add legitimacy to the space, and allow consumers to more easily choose reputable crypto services and projects and tokens,” Cooper concludes.

Revolut Singapore is in the process of applying for a licence to provide DPT services under the Payment Services Act.

Communicating about crypto in a responsible manner

The first thing to know is that not all forms of publicity are disallowed. Companies are still permitted to talk about their services on their own websites, apps, and official social media accounts.

This means unless someone proactively searches for the content, he or she is unlikely to encounter any publicity by a crypto company when going about their everyday business.

Joel Lah, Account Director of Redhill, a communications agency that counts Hg Exchange and Mongol NFT amongst their clients, believes that education should become the focus of engagement by crypto companies to support their audiences in making the right choices.

Deepak Khanna, Head of Wealth and Trading at Revolut Singapore, agrees. “Financial services providers have a duty of care towards investors. Business growth is always contingent on building trust with investors. These new guidelines help set common standards and improved quality of customer communications, all of which is good for investors and the industry in the long run.”

Also Read: NFTs provide new ways to handle IP management, empower content creators: Inmagine CEO Warren Leow

What does it mean then to talk about crypto in a responsible way? Lah opines that it isn’t about who has the “biggest advertising budget” but rather who can demonstrate the most credibility. “Failure to build trust will most certainly have a negative impact.” He shares three principles crypto companies should take on board for their communications strategy: 

Focus on long-term credibility

Crypto firms should be wary of targeting a quick profit as the main goal. They should instead focus on creating a long-standing, credible company. Credibility is built over time whether through thought-leadership or education. Be consistent with your communications and avoid making incendiary comments to create short-lived hype.

Honesty is the best policy

Companies should remain honest in their communications. Consumers are becoming increasingly discerning — exaggerating certain benefits will be met with resistance. Companies should be transparent and truthful about their strengths, weaknesses, and future plans, and cut down on hubris.

Showcase collaboration

It is crucial for crypto companies to showcase their openness by working with regulators and other industry players because this shows they want to play a part in creating a more mature crypto industry. In order for the industry to grow, it is essential for all players to collaborate, share insights and develop the space together. 

Watch out for the hype

For content specialist, Tan Lili, her unwillingness to invest in cryptocurrencies arises directly from how people make earning a quick buck look so easy. “I’ve been seeing so many crypto ads featuring celebrities and influencers on social media. To be honest, seeing such content puts me off crypto trading even more, especially on platforms like TikTok which has a younger audience. To me, this is just irresponsible marketing,” she says.

Also Read: “We want to facilitate organisations’ Web3 transition from bits to atoms”: Brinc CEO Manav Gupta

This sentiment is backed by Lah. “Social media has given everyone a voice, which is great for freedom of speech but can be dangerous when unqualified financial advice is being dished out so freely.”

He cites the recent example of the Squid Coin (SQUID), a token inspired by the popular Netflix series Squid Game. 

“It became the most hyped cryptocurrency across social media platforms, its valuation even shot up to US$2,861 per coin overnight, with influencers creating posts about its massive surge and potential price predictions. However, just a few weeks later, SQUID plummeted to $0 as a result of a rug pull— an event triggered when the creators of the token cashed out their coins for real money. This left many investors with nothing.” 

Most people with a healthy level of commonsense will regard the overly-enthusiastic promotion of any money-making method with scepticism.

Those who are taken in by content promising huge returns on any investments are likely swayed by the absence of jargon and the use of dazzling visuals. It is this group of investors that needs to be protected. 

As the crypto industry matures and sheds its image as a collection of novelty investments, companies will have to arm their customers with the power to make the best decisions for their money through education and thought-leadership and find ways to make such content engaging across generations. 

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Vietnamese acceleration-cum–venture capital firm VIISA has made an undisclosed investment in SHub, a startup providing classroom management solutions for e-learning. 

SHub will utilise the proceeds to enhance the quantity and quality of its online classes. It will also look to rope in top teachers.

Founded in 2019 by CEO An Dang Nguyen, SHub aims to make online learning a basic life necessity and make online teaching a high-income career for Vietnamese teachers. 

Besides providing online classes that are close to the traditional training environment, Shub has also integrated features such as assigning, correcting, grading assignments and creating online examinations via the platform. This helps learners and teachers optimise their time on a learning platform, reducing unnecessary and time-consuming operations.

Also read: Retention in e-learning: Data analytics and crypto find their way into vogue

The startup targets students in secondary and high schools and claims to have onboarded over three million users. It has also formed partnerships with over 200 schools and 100.000 teachers.

“With this investment, I hope that SHub can help the online education market in Vietnam achieve two goals in the short term,” said VIISA Co-Founder and CFO Hieu Vo. “The first goal is to speed up digital transformation in small and medium-sized teaching and exam preparation centres. The second one is to reduce the total time required to interact among the sub-objects involved in the classroom such as schools, centres and parents.”

VIISA was formed in 2016 in a partnership between Dragon Capital, Hanwha and Vietnamese ICT giant FPT Corporation.

As per a Bain & Company analysis, Vietnamese parents view education as the primary means towards a successful career. The average Vietnamese family spends approximately ~20 per cent of disposable income on education, compared to 6-15 per cent in other Southeast Asian peers.

As the pandemic forces students to stay at home and schools to adopt online learning massively, many Vietnamese edutech startups have raised capital in 2021. They include educational services provider Equest (US$100 million investment from KKR), AI-powered language app Elsa (US$15 million Series B led by Vietnam Investments Group), Educa Corporation (US$2 million Series A from Alibaba-backed eWTP), Marathon Education (US$1.5 million in seed funding), CoderSchool (US$2.6 million pre-Series A led by Monk’s Hill Ventures), and Clevai (US$2.1 million in a pre-Series A led by Altara Ventures).

By the end of 2023, the Vietnamese e-learning market is expected to be worth over US$3 billion, according to a Ken Research report, with the increase in the number of foreign players entering the market.

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Image Credit: SHub

Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

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The Southeast Asia investment scene has been rapidly evolving in the last 24 months, and the way how pitching is conducted, sourcing of deal flow and completing investments today has to be updated as well.

The e27 platform has achieved more than 9,000 Connects from the startups seeking to connect to investors on the platform. We are also aware that many of our audiences are companies on the Pre-Series A and below stages —there are even companies in the seed stage. They will not be at the right stage for most VCs today to invest in.

Amongst our midst is a thriving pool of individual investors. They could be serial entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, or successful business individuals that are looking to invest in the next interesting technology at the seed stage.

This is why e27 is gathering our network of angel investors, new and old, and onboarding them onto our platform, accelerating the size of funds that seed stage startups can tap on.

Also Read: How to use the e27 editor to write great articles

If you are:

1. An individual investor with an existing profile on e27, do update your information to keep it up to date
2. A new individual investor who is looking to join the list, do create a user account and make sure you update your investment information in your profile.

It will only take five to 10 minutes to update or create your investor profile. Just click Edit beside your profile name or click + Add Investor Profile from the drop-down menu when you hover to your profile picture (login required).

For a comprehensive guide, please refer to our help resource.

Having a complete Individual Investor Profile will enable you to Connect to our network of startups in various countries in the region. We are looking forward to seeing your profiles.

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Image Credit: taa22

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Aruna, an online fishery and marine platform for Indonesian fisherfolks, has announced a US$30 million Series A follow-on funding led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.

Existing investors Prosus Ventures, AC Ventures, East Ventures (Growth Fund), Indogen Capital, SMDV and SIG Venture Capital also joined the round.

This brings Aruna’s total Series A financing to US$65 million. The round follows a US$35 million Series A round led by Prosus Ventures and East Ventures (Growth Fund) in July 2021.

Aruna will use the fresh funds to expand into new geographies in the archipelago and grow the team.

Founded in 2016, Aruna serves as a one-stop shop for Indonesia’s fishermen to connect with restaurants and exporters. Its goal is to help create fair fish trading, improve the livelihood of local fishermen, and bring affordable and high-quality seafood to communities.

Through Aruna, local fishermen can export their products to countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia, North America, and the Middle East.

Also Read: Growing up in coastal villages, Aruna believes in empowering fishermen as the key to prosperity

In 2021, Aruna developed 100 communities with over 26,000 registered fisherfolks. It also generated 5,000 job opportunities in the rural areas to support their operations.

Last year, Aruna sold 44 million kilograms of seafood to more than eight countries. Currently, the company operates in 27 provinces in Indonesia.

“We have a vision of making Indonesia the centre of the world’s maritime economy. We hope to achieve this by revolutionising the marine and fisheries industry chain, encouraging financial inclusion, and promoting sustainable fishing industry practices,” said Farid Naufal Aslam, CEO of Aruna.

“Our mission is to make the sea a better livelihood for all by promoting the Sea For All campaign. We will invest in building the infrastructure to support sustainable fishing practices as we believe that profitability should be achieved through balancing the needs of both people and planet,” said Utari Octavianty as Chief Sustainability Officer of Aruna.

In August 2020, Aruna received US$5.5 million from East Ventures, AC Ventures, and SMDV.

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Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

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The Sandbox, a decentralised gaming metaverse owned by Animoca Brands, has committed US$50 million to Hong Kong-based Brinc, which runs The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator programme.

With applications now open and the first cohort scheduled to start in Q2 2022, the programme is a dedicated track within Launchpad Luna — the accelerator launched in mid-2021 as a partnership between Brinc and Animoca Brands.

The new programme aims to accelerate 30 to 40 startups a year over the next three years. The programme will invest in, mentor, educate, and support the development of promising startups and projects while also providing access to potential partnerships and business development opportunities across the growing networks of The Sandbox, Animoca Brands, and Brinc.

The new programme is looking for startups that can enhance the open metaverse, which will be evaluated on their traction, technical expertise, and ability to deliver unique experiences.

Also Read: “We want to facilitate organisations’ Web3 transition from bits to atoms”: Brinc CEO Manav Gupta

Startups accepted into the programme will receive an initial investment of up to US$250,000 each. The Sandbox will also provide further grants of up to US$150,000 in SAND tokens to the best performers, as well as LAND grants. Startups that demonstrate meaningful traction post-program can also apply for follow-on investment from The Sandbox, Animoca Brands, and Brinc.

The core directive of The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator Program is to support the launch of new startups that can contribute to the growth and expansion of The Sandbox ecosystem by building unique experiences and populating the platform with fresh creativity and new content. Pioneering blockchain startups in art, collectibles, culture, entertainment, gaming, media, content, and streaming, are encouraged to apply.

Accelerated startups will be empowered to contribute to The Sandbox’s rapidly growing ecosystem and actively engage with its existing and growing user base. Online applications are now open at: brinc.io/metaverse.

High-profile mentors supporting the programme are:

• Yat Siu (Animoca Brands)
• Sebastien Borget (The Sandbox)
• Manav Gupta (Brinc)
• Cathy Hackl (CEO of Futures Intelligence Group)
• Holly Atkinson (lead blockchain developer at The Sandbox)
• Holly Liu (co-founder of Kabam)
• Janine Yorio (CEO of Republic Realm)
• Leah Callon-Butler (director of Emfarsis and columnist at CoinDesk)
• Pavel Bains (co-founder of Bluzelle)
• Serena Tabacchi (director and co-founder of Museum of Contemporary Digital Art)
• Susan Cummings (CEO of Petaverse Network)
• Yam Karkai (co-founder of World of Women), and
• Yingzi Yuan (founder and builder of Metaverse Summit). 

Web 3.0 leaders from Altitude Games, Binance, Dragonfly Capital, Republic Crypto, and True Global Ventures will also provide mentorship.

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Last year, more than 1.8 billion people used Facebook Groups every month. There are over 70 million admins and moderators running active Facebook groups. As I am writing this, a new Facebook group or a community is born somewhere on the internet. Since the stone age, humans have had an innate need to gather together. 

In this digital age, we’re not just local tribes. We’re living in a global village. With the expanded boundaries, we have the opportunity to connect, interact, and establish a relationship with people who share a common objective.

For instance, SaaSBoomi, a volunteer-driven community that I co-founded enables SaaS founders and product leaders to connect, share, and learn from each other.

Being a SaaS product founder, it is important to build a community around your product and keep it alive and engaging with the help of a community platform. A community platform helps you with multiple facets of your business.

You can conduct surveys and find ways to evolve your product to meet the dynamic needs of your customers. Your users start advocating your product (and brand) as you engage and interact with them. They give pieces of advice to each other to accomplish certain tasks that they have difficulty in executing. 

In many ways, the community has become the new moat for B2B SaaS businesses. It’s not the product features, the sales techniques, or even the support that keep customers loyal to your product. It’s the community around it. How do you keep your community alive and engaging?

Create an identity

You know your product and your customers. Choose the customers that believe in your idea, share the common goal, and envision an identity of the community. Identify 10 users who are on the same page with you and kickstart your community. They will take care of the personality of your community.

Make it feel personal

With just 10 members, you don’t have a self-sustaining community, and everything is dependent on you. The advantage of a small group is that you can be extremely personal. Try inviting them for an individual discussion over a coffee, connect with them, know whether they would be interested in attending an event with other people interested in this topic, and ask questions. When they’re all hooked up, they will care about the community’s success.

Encourage participation

Now that you have 10 members who trust you, it’s time for you to build trust between the members. It’s faster for people to build trust in person than online. Host a brunch or dinner and see how things shape up. But if you can’t do it in person, do it online.

Also Read: How to continue community building online amid the pandemic

The more lively and interactive the session is, the better. Eventually, their trust in you will translate to trust in each other.

Reward and value members

Rewarding your users doesn’t have to be materialistic. It can be as simple as taking time out to talk to your users and get their opinions/feedback. This gesture lets your users understand you value their opinions. It increases the chances of your users coming back again and keeps the community alive and thriving.

Repeat steps 1-4

It’s time to lay a strong foundation with 10 loyal community members. Invite new members and allow others to invite someone new to the community. At this stage of your community-building journey, you’re not asking for a favour from your members.

Also Read: The Unicroach approach: 10 tips on community building

You’re encouraging them to take the opportunity and give someone else value by inviting them to your community. In a way, it gives them a responsibility to invite like-minded people that will further enhance the quality of the community.

Create your moat by building a thriving community

It’s not as easy as it looks. At times, it may feel like the community isn’t going anywhere, and nothing is working. It takes a lot of hard work and patience to fight the awkward silences. Awkward silences include scenarios where no one shows up or your posts go unnoticed. You have to collect yourself up and be consistent in what you do.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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Building a startup is an extremely challenging undertaking. Ask any startup founder and each one will tell you stories of the challenges they are facing from fundraising to product development and even finding talent. And that’s discounting the additional layer of difficulties and uncertainties that our current pandemic situation has on the overall business landscape. 

Apart from that, each country presents their own set of challenges for startups — be it in the form of regulations, cultural differences, and even maturity of the market or availability of potential partners for new technologies. 

That’s why it’s heartening to see various programmes supporting startups happening all over the region. In Japan, specifically, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) is spearheading initiatives that aim to guide and bolster Japanese startups towards greater growth.

They have partnered with Techstars to launch two cohorts of the Founders Catalyst Program as part of JETRO’s Startup City Acceleration Program. The startups in the two cohorts — 15 in the general cohort and 11 in the cleantech cohort — are undergoing a series of sessions to help address the issues they are facing specific to their companies to help them build and grow their companies.

A wide range of challenges across various stages of a startup

LThe aim of the program is to provide startups with the support they need to address challenges specific to them. With 26 startups, that could mean anything from figuring out their go-to-market strategy, addressing company growth stalls due to the pandemic, and even finding partners outside of the country.

Such was the case of Water Design Japan, a startup that aims to address the problem of clogged and damaged pipes without the use of chemicals with its Ultra Fine Bubble (UFB) technology.

“[Our product] produces nano-sized bubbles for a unique and natural cleaning effect”, said Natsumi Ito, co-founder of Water Design Japan. “This technology has lots of potential and applications. However, it was hard to find the first customer who was willing to test and use it.” 

And while at present they claim that over 7,000 customers in Japan trust their technology and use their product, they are aiming to expand their business outside of the country. “We have about 70% of business requirements coming from overseas but it is hard to find the right partner,” explained Ito.

Also read: Modern solutions to modern problems: How Plusman LLC innovates healthcare

AC Biode, a company that is developing the world’s first standalone AC batteries with special electric circuits for e-mobility and energy storage, faces a different challenge — something that startups developing new technology may be very familiar with. 

“Our battery and plastic recycling projects require a lot of funding and R&D,” said Robert Kunzmann, COO of AC Biode. “The main challenge is to find partners to scale our technology from small prototype to large scale operation.”

This is the same challenge that IDDK Co. Ltd. is facing, albeit at a much later stage. The company developed a patented one-chip microscopic observation technology called Micro Imaging Device (MID) that they foresee to be a game-changer not just in the microscope industry but in the various fields and technologies that require it such as space, medical, biotech, and sanitation.

“The main challenge we are facing as we grow our company is to improve MID,” said Kohei Yoshioka, Director and CFO at IDDK. As it is a new technology, they are aiming to meet investors to help them fundraise to further improve their product.

But beyond finding partners to help them scale and develop their products, some companies find that the bigger challenge is bringing their product to the market and finding out if such a market even exists.

“Our challenge is modifying and fitting services that have a long history in Japan to suit the market so that customers can use them in the global market,” shared Daisuke Sasaki, CEO of Kyoto Meditation Center Co., Ltd., a startup based in a 700-year-old Zen temple in Kyoto, Japan, that is developing a package of B2B web apps to offer Japanese tea and meditation to the global market.

Even with such varied challenges, the Founders Catalyst program is able to help these startups address their issues and more.

Leveraging on network, expertise, and community

Running from November 2021 until March 2022, The Founders Catalyst program aims to help the startups in their 2 cohorts to address the challenges that hinder their growth. The main strength of the programme is Techstars’ deep experience of operating nearly 50 accelerators around the world and their vast network of mentors and partners.

Through the programme, the cohorts are not only able to learn from the experiences of the mentors but have the opportunity to connect with potential partners and customers as well.

Regardless of the stage that they are in, the startups of the current cohorts are already seeing the positive effects of being in the program even as it is still running.

Also read: Online threats? Protect yourself with these tools

For Kyoto Meditation Center, it provided an opportunity to learn the basics. “The programme is exciting, insightful, and an eye-opener,” said Daisuke. “I can clarify the problem areas surrounding startups. Many founder CEOs and mentors are involved, so I actively contact them to maximise this learning opportunity.”

AC Biode also finds the mentorship and the network they are building via their mentors valuable. “The mentor sessions helped me greatly in preparing my pitch. Secondly, we are now talking to a major e-scooter manufacturer, thanks to the introduction made by our mentor,” said Kunzmann.

Similarly, Citadel AI, a startup that helps teams monitor and test their AI applications, says that the programme has helped them connect with people that they can learn from to grow their company. 

“​​Our market is quite new so there are no similar companies [in Japan], but there are some benchmark companies in the US that we can learn from,” said Hironori “Rick” Kobayashi, CEO and Co-Founder of Citadel AI. “Techstars and its mentors are very helpful in connecting us to key people in these companies.”

For byFood.com, the program is an opportunity to prepare for when Japan’s borders start opening. They are a one-stop food entertainment platform, offering services for before, during, and after a trip to Japan, targeting their customers before they even step foot in the country. byFood.com’s growth halted when borders closed in March 2020 and they focussed on their domestic business, but they are keeping an eye out for their future growth plans.

“We meet many global mentors to prepare ourselves for our future global extension,” said Serkan Toso, Co-founder and COO of byFood.com. “The Founder Catalyst program is an excellent bridge for connecting the startup ecosystem outside Japan. We can easily find the right people in our next target countries and learn the situation and strategies for starting a business there. Without this programme, it would be challenging for us to find those people.”

Also read: Putting the Tech in Textile: D-Plus Trading reinvents the textile scene

IDDK also sees the importance of tapping into the network that the programme has. “Founder Catalyst programme gives us the opportunity to get into Techstars’ worldwide ecosystem.” At the beginning of the programme, we were advised to meet a new person every day to expand the network exponentially,” said Kohei. “Even if it doesn’t seem to work in the short term, I can reach out for help when a time comes in the long term.”

The diversity of experience and expertise of the mentors are also helpful for Kohei. “Our mentors are from different industries and different regions with specialised skills and a wide range of experiences, so even if they are not related to our industry or business, we can get some feedback which is useful to consider from a different perspective,” Kohei added.

What’s next for these startups?

The programme concludes with a Demo Day in March 2022 where the startups in the two cohorts get to pitch their products to a regional audience of investors, potential partners, and customers.

For most of them, the demo day serves as a jump-off point to bring their products to the global market. For some, they hope to come out of the programme with a clearer understanding of their business and a solid plan to expand and/or go to market.

What’s definite is that these 26 startups will have gained the mentorship and network opportunities from a programme that has previously resulted in hundreds of business and investor connections, and ultimately seeding countless relationships between participants and mentors.

Interested parties can view the demo day by registering for the two cohorts: Cleantech and Global Scale.

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Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Techstars

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Last week, I had the privilege of having lunch with Chanel and Chin, both practitioners in the NFT space. Chanel had recently quit her job to run her own Tasty Toasties NFT collection, and Chin had just joined the NFT marketplace “X” to drive growth and global expansion. 

The conversation at lunch was delightful— we spoke about how Ghozali became a millionaire from selling his selfies, how Singaporean influencer Irene Zhao started her own DAO, and how there’s even a hybrid project of the two which raised 20.2 ETH. 

I was deeply humbled. Halfway through the conversation, I suddenly recalled that Kenneth, the founder of another NFT marketplace FormosArt, had gifted me a CryptoKitty NFT back in August 2019, which makes me an NFT Original Gangster (“OG”).

Never selling my CryptoKitty though.

What are NFTs?

NFTs only started gaining wider attention after digital artist Beeple auctioned off his artwork at Christie’s in March 2021. The piece sold for a massive US$69 million to a crypto whale in Singapore.

With the total sale of Bored Apes Yacht Club NFT collection (BAYC) recently surpassing US$1 billion, “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) were hailed as one of the most hyped topics of 2021, with the trend likely to continue into 2022. 

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

Very recently, we also read news about the nine Singaporean companies that are exploring NFTs for their brands and businesses. Because of the vast media attention given to this phenomenon, some have labelled NFTs as “a speculative bubble” and some others have called for increased regulation.  

There are many types of NFTs, ranging from collectables, profile pictures (PFP) artwork, event tickets, gaming, virtual items, memes, and even Web 3.0 domain names.

In short, a secure network records the sale of the above items on a digital ledger (“the blockchain”), giving buyers proof of ownership and authenticity. 

Yet, with all these incredulous statistics, NFTs are not just temporary hype. Here’s why.

Reason #1: With NFTs, you are buying social clout, not the copyright

Some people think that NFTs infringe on creators’ copyrights and tend to disregard them. Frankly speaking, this sort of argument is misleading and is not consistent.

This is because it assumes that the fundamental element that gives market value to the NFT is the copyright of the artwork.

Instead, let me posit to you that the central element that gives the NFT value is social clout and not copyright. In other words, ownership of an NFT makes it verifiable that you are taking part in an innovative digital movement. It has nothing to do with stealing the rights of a creator. 

Now, the determination of the market value of NFTs, therefore, lies in the immutability and the verifiability of ownership.

Because there are now particular NFTs that are highly coveted, you become an important person in the community with verifiable social standing. People both inside and outside of the community will look up to you.

Think about it logically for PFP NFTs— the difference between simply right-clicking the BAYC .jpeg file, setting it as a profile picture, and actually owning it is simply being able to show it as a measurable fact, thus confirming that you are verifiably part of a movement. 

Also Read: The art of blockchain: What is the NFT craze all about?

Therefore, the NFT is not just a part of a .jpeg file. Human beings are meaning-fuelled creatures, which signifies that we intrinsically want to be part of something larger than ourselves. 

Are there parallels to this concept and the human desire to be part of something larger than ourselves? Of course!

Humans have always sought an existential approach to exploration, often pursuing meaning through religion, civil movements, celebrity worship, and contributing to different types of communities. NFTs just raised the bar.

Before NFTs came about, you simply couldn’t visibly and verifiably prove that you have X amount of social capital and power in a certain community. NFTs make this possible. 

Reason #2: NFT is a radical disruption to traditional business models for creators

Rendering games and creating artwork used to be skill sets that weren’t very financially rewarding for most. NFT changed this, by revolutionising the business models of these two industries.

I’d like to share an article here by Brian Fyre, titled “After Copyright: Pwning NFTs in a Clout Economy.”

In this article, Brian Fyre posits:

“But the NFT market suggests upfront investment could be a viable business model in areas other than the art market. If investors believe work is or will be important, and is underpriced relative to its expected future value, they’ll be delighted to invest in it, so long as there’s a resale market. And there it is.

When people invest in the NFT market, they are literally investing in the expected future value of the works they own. Or to look at it in another way, they’re investing in the careers of the authors who created those works.

They’re essentially buying a fractional interest in that author’s career, represented by an NFT of one of that author’s works.

This is great for authors because it means they get paid upfront, whether or not the works they create turn out to be successful. Copyright only ever rewards successful authors.

NFTs at least promise to reward any author people think might be successful. Moreover, they reduce the need for intermediaries.

Realising the value of work in the copyright market typically requires a distributor, who claims a substantial share of the revenue. The NFT market enables authors to connect directly with their investors.” 

After reading this paper, I was dumbfounded. Can you imagine investing in the future careers of young and driven young people through NFTs and upfront payment?

This is an incredibly empowering notion because it encourages people to experiment in any way they want or desire, without the fear of failure, since the project money would be handled upfront.

Also Read: NFTs provide new ways to handle IP management, empower content creators: Inmagine CEO Warren Leow

This is the beauty of decentralised projects because once your vision and mission are clearly articulated, fundraising tools can be easily and effectively utilized.

I’d like to share an insight from my Multiverse Labs colleague Jake, a young Korean chap in his mid-20s. He points out that the market value of any piece of artwork including music, movies, dramatisations, etc. not only comes from the activity of creation but from trading as well.

This links back to the idea of social clout and why art gallery owners earn more than single artists.  Since we can now vividly imagine the possibilities of this new business model working by looking at the solid data of successful NFT projects, what makes you think NFTs are simply going away? 

Reason #3: People dismiss intense discussions and things they don’t understand as “Hype”

As with all new technological innovations, there are bound to be intense and incredibly polarising discussions. There will inevitably be early adopters in any industry who will try to make a quick buck through unconventional processes.

Because of this, some observers label NFTs as scams/hype, and others associate NFT trading with money laundering. Sounds familiar? Because it is. People said the same thing about Bitcoin since its inception in 2009. 

Admittedly, a group of obscure VCs have recently been caught throwing liberal amounts of money at projects with the words “GameFi” and “NFT,” creating a false impression that the whole space is “all hype.”

It truly isn’t that difficult for founders of blockchain projects to get funding in the current business climate. And to that, let me just say that the public should do their own due diligence and research before investing any pocket change. 

The key takeaway here is this; just because something isn’t widely understood, it doesn’t mean that it won’t last. In the fast-moving blockchain world, we really don’t know what we don’t know! So perhaps it might be wise to rethink that assumption. 

If NFTs are here to stay, where do we go from here?

Practitioners like Chanel and Chin in the NFT space are impressive because of their strong personal convictions and grit.

Currently, I work as the Head of Ecosystem at Multiverse Labs, an open metaverse with a mission to empower promising individuals and groups to become leaders in new digital spaces.

I count my blessings daily because I get to interact frequently with passionate people like them, who are literally building the new era, one NFT at a time.

Also Read: Are digital art NFTs horrible for Mother Earth? BoT gearing up for digital currency test

Yet, because I work as Head of Ecosystem, people naturally assume that I’m also an “expert” in the NFT space. The truth is that I am new to learning like everyone else because the space is always rapidly evolving.

What I do have, however, is the conviction that NFTs are the key building blocks to the open metaverse. And since the “metaverse” is not hype (Meta is investing at least US$10 billion/year), by logical extension, NFTs are not hyped either. 

I encourage you to start participating with me in this space by minting NFTs in any projects that tickle your fancy. You’ll learn faster by having a growth mindset and taking action.

For example, as a pure experiment, we have created and minted some IKItties as NFTs on the Polygon blockchain network, and they look like this:

I’ll most likely be minting my first NFT on the ethereum blockchain from Zoofrenz soon, which looks like this:

I also warmly invite you to join us at Multiverse Labs in building the open metaverse together. Feel free to get connected and show us your NFT collections anytime! 🙂 

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Image credit: galitskaya

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Indonesian e-commerce enabler SIRCLO Group today announced that it has acquired new retail platform Warung Pintar for an undisclosed sum.

Following the acquisition, Warung Pintar will continue to operate as an integrated yet independent entity, as a new retail service under the SIRCLO Group umbrella.

It will offer a comprehensive omnichannel solution for principals or brands, distributors, business players, to end-consumers through its network of warungs (mom-and-pop stores).

At the management level, Brian Marshal will lead as CEO of SIRCLO Group, while Agung Bezharie as the Co-Founder and CEO of Warung Pintar will lead SIRCLO’s new business pillar under ‘New Retail’ services.

In addition to that, Danang Cahyono will take on a new position to lead SIRCLO’s ‘Enterprise Solutions’ pillar and Ferry Tenka will lead SIRCLO’s ‘Entrepreneur Solutions’ pillar.

Also Read: How Warung Pintar builds tech solutions to help warung owners embrace the future

“With more than eight years of experience in the B2B industry for enterprise brands and entrepreneurs, we realise that micro-retail (warung) and mom-and-pop stores also play a crucial role in the retail ecosystem, since they serve as the fulfilment hubs for the society’s daily needs. We need to improve key factors in their operations, such as product availability, the efficiency of the distribution channels, brands’ accessibility to reach partners and end-consumers, as well as its capability in contributing to the national economy. This is what prompted SIRCLO to also focus on the B2B2C business model by collaborating with Warung Pintar in our ecosystem,” said Marshal in a press statement.

SIRCLO Group said that it aimed to focus on three layers of solution pillars: solutions for Enterprises, solutions for Entrepreneurs and SMEs, and the New Retail business model (such as warung).

Through this latest acquisition, the company said that it now has

– A total of more than 150,000 brands served by the company (combined)
– More than 500,000 warung and mom-and-pop stores owners
– A reach of more than 25 million end-consumers
– More than 80 distribution points spread throughout Indonesia

Also Read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

Commenting on the acquisition, Bezharie said that the synergy between SIRCLO and Warung Pintar can help brands increase their visibility by penetrating into the warung ecosystem —as the largest distribution channel in Indonesia— so that principals or brands are able to reach more consumers.

He also believes that this move marks a great opportunity for the two entities to bring a wider impact on the retail ecosystem and the Indonesian economy, especially to prepare for constant dynamic changes in the sector.

In February last year, Warung Pintar acquired Bizzy Digital for US$45 million.

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Image Credit: SIRCLO Group

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US firm acquires Singapore’s email marketing platform Saleswhale

Singapore-based AI-driven email marketing platform Saleswhale has been acquired by US-based revenue-tech unicorn 6sense for an undisclosed amount.

By joining forces, 6sense will expand its engagement capabilities, allowing its customers to deliver personalised, relevant, and timely emails that convert qualified leads into opportunities.

The acquisition comes alongside 6sense’s US$200 million Series E round from investors, including MSD Partners, Blue Owl, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Tiger Global, and Insight Partners.

Saleswhale will continue to operate as an independent entity.

Also Read: How Singaporean startup Xctuality helps creators, brands accelerate into metaverse

Under 6sense, Saleswhale will look to double its team and hire engineers, product designers, and product managers in Singapore and India. Saleswhale also plans to expand its business through product development and last-mile execution of its sales and marketing product.

Saleswhale is a company backed by Monk’s Hill Ventures and is also the first Y Combinator-backed company in Singapore to be acquired.

Thai omnichannel commerce startup Hatch acquired by PriceSpider

Bangkok-based omnichannel commerce solutions startup Hatch has been acquired by US-based brand commerce enabler PriceSpider.

Together, Hatch and PriceSpider, with a presence on all continents, will provide commerce enablement solutions and digital shelf analytics, helping brands better understand consumer buying patterns to optimise touchpoints globally.

Hatch connects brands directly with retailers, empowering a one-click shop from the brands’ website to direct buyers to a wide selection of over 2,000 retailers worldwide. As an omnichannel commerce solution, Hatch enables consumers to purchase a brand’s product from any point: social media, the website, phone, tablet, or computer.

Currently, the firm operates in over 80 countries worldwide.

PriceSpider’s Brand Commerce Platform — including Shoppable where-to-buy solutions, Digital Shelf Analytics and Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) technologies — protects brand integrity online by delivering deeper insights into how consumers shop and choose brands.

With this acquisition, PriceSpider and Hatch will serve more than 2,000 of the world’s most renowned brands across the globe.

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