RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Volkswagen announced Monday (11) the launch of its own platform for buying and selling NFTs, Digital Garage VW, in partnership with Brazilian OnePercent, a company that develops customized blockchain solutions.
According to a statement from the company obtained by Cointelegraph, Digital Garage VW will bring exclusive digital content to the public, with special series dedicated to Volkswagen cars and collector packs of iconic models of the brand and classics and so-called concept cars.
In this way, the company says, fans of the automotive market can collect the items and form a digital garage.
“It’s a new experience for fans of the brand to interact with NFTs technology and everything it offers. Together with the two collections, we launch more than 60 digital cards representing famous Volkswagen models and icons. And there will be many more to come,” said Ciro Possobom, COO of Volkswagen Brazil and Vice President of Finance and IT in Brazil and the SAM region.
According to the statement, the platform will offset the mint’s entire carbon footprint and accept credit card, pix, and cryptocurrency payments.
“OnePercent has a track record of participating in groundbreaking projects for the market. This partnership with Volkswagen underscores our positioning to build bridges for people and businesses by connecting with web3. We are betting on all these alternatives to help the public enter new economic models,” Fausto Vanin, co-founder of the startup, told Cointelegraph.
POLYGON (MATIC) PLATFORM
The statement also highlights that the network chosen to host Volkswagen’s NFTs platform was Polygon (MATIC). The cryptocurrency has already grown more than 39,060% since its launch, according to Coinmarketcap data.
“The choice of the Polygon network for mining the NFTs is because it is a solution based on a consensus model called Proof of Stake (or PoS), which is more environmentally friendly and is also supported by the security of the Ethereum network. In this way, the VW Digital Garage NFT gains even more sustainability, security, and ease of use,” Vanin points out.
The public will initially find two collections on the Digital Garage platform, designed to store, exchange, and sell digital items.
The cards have three rarity levels: Hero (about 80% of available images), Premium (about 15% of collectibles), and Legend (less than 5%). One is the GT Collection, which includes 23 models from the GT series. The other is Pen&Paper, which gathers 45 sketches of famous models.
Developed by VW Design Studio, the NFTs will be available in packs of three random options, but there will also be the option to purchase a special pack of five cards to increase your chances of getting rarer items.
“When we decided to create an exclusive Volkswagen platform and not use the ones already available on the market, we thought of democratizing technology. The reason is that most of these marketplaces work exclusively with cryptocurrencies. The VW Digital Garage will be possible to pay in different ways, such as credit card, pix, and, of course, cryptocurrency,” says Fabio Rabelo, head of digitalization and new business models at Volkswagen Latin America.
Those who buy the non-fungible tokens become the original owner of an exclusive work. The artwork and the metadata, the information that describes what this digital asset represents, are stored in IPFS: a service that allows the owner to access their asset whether they are connected to the Internet or not.
VOLKSWAGEN NFTs
For now, 100% digital items will be offered, but there are plans to introduce experiences and physical objects linked to the brand’s NFTs in the next collections.
OnePercent will also introduce a new sales model based on auctioning unique items designed by VW specifically for this purpose. Digital Garage VW is expected to offer a marketplace in the future that will allow cards (current or from closed collections) to be resold, given away, or gifted to others within the platform.
“We are excited that OnePercent’s NFT marketplace will facilitate the use of tokens in various contexts, such as the automotive sector. This project helps us make the blockchain even more democratic,” Fausto Vanin concludes.
With information from Cointelegraph