What do Whiskey, NFT, and a Bored Ape have in common? Quite a bit of innovation and money if you follow a hot company called BlockBar.
Caution: If you are unfamiliar with NFTs, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and have started an eye-roll, the rest of the post will not be easy.
Here is a link to a glossary for the jargon related to this post.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
For a while, NFTs were primarily used to authenticate ownership of digital assets. So, after you buy a digital asset (art, game merchandise, virtual goods, etc.), the NFT that signifies ownership is transferred to your digital wallet. The ‘digital asset-NFT’ association is convenient, so NFTs took off along with the popularity of digital assets and started trading in marketplaces like OpenSea. It’s possible to apply the same technology to track physical assets. The approach has advantages over a traditional physical certificate that authenticates ownership –
- Forgery – The token gets recorded on a blockchain, so it cannot be reproduced or manipulated, and only the owner can claim and prove ownership. There has been hacking of digital wallets holding NFTs, but that’s stealing and a different topic.
- Price transparency – Since it’s recorded on a public blockchain, anyone can view past transactions, promoting transparency.
BlockBar is a Direct-to-Consumer platform that allows investing in luxury liquors. They work directly with liquor brands to offer rare collectible physical + digital assets. For example – Glenfiddich released a 46-year-old single malt on BlockBar. So far, only 15 physical + virtual bottles have been released, making it a rare and investible asset. Link to the rare bottle
BlockBar stores the insured bottle in a secure vault. They will ship the bottle to you if you decide to drink it (you will need to burn the NFT). You could sell directly in their marketplace, transferring the NFT to a new owner.
With me so far? Ok, now finally to the BAYC, a.k.a Bored Ape.
Monkey Shoulder is blended malt scotch whiskey, popular with the younger demographic. The partnership with Monkey Shoulder and bored ape takes it to a new level. Its physical and digital assets combined with a social club. All three companies (Monkey Shoulder, Bored Ape & BlockBar) are linked via an NFT-based platform.
The way it will work – people who own a Bored Ape NFT can participate in a ballot for a chance to win 100 bottles, with their specific Bored Ape printed on the cover. The ballot entry is only possible by linking your digital wallet (containing Bored Ape NFT) to BlockBar. It ensures that the physical bottle is produced for a specific Bored Ape and, therefore, custom to the owner.
Link to the bored ape on BlockBar
Later, there are plans for the second release of 1500 BarBlock’s Bored Ape featured bottles.
The example shows that innovative companies can leverage NFTs to create unique valuable collectibles and link brands directly to the consumers. The approach ensures authenticity (it’s straight from brands), uniqueness (it’s linked to the bored ape you own), and rarity (open only to the bored ape club).
Can other categories like high-end cosmetics or luxury goods take a similar approach? Answer: it is already in the works, but with different business models, which I plan to cover in future posts.
Stay Tuned!