In addition to DeFi and social tokens, one of the biggest trends in the crypto space is called NFT. A look at the most exciting start-ups in Berlin that are advancing technology.
With around 74.6 million search results on Google, non-fungible tokens are probably one of the most discussed topics in the blockchain world. For comparison: the search term “blockchain” comes up with 152 million search results. Countless companies in the gaming world, in the arts or in the consumer goods industry around the world are currently focusing on the topic. Probably the best known example is Dapper Labs. The developers of the NFT-based game “CryptoKitties” are now worth more than 2.6 billion dollars and prove that NFT has long since become mainstream. Even if a lot has been reported in the last few weeks about the ecological footprint of the NFTs mostly emitted on Ethereum, the hype seems unstoppable.
In Berlin, too, the NFT landscape is growing steadily. In the last 12 months, a large number of start-ups have been founded that develop NFT-based solutions in various forms. A total of 2.4 million search results appear under the search term “NFT Berlin”.
The Berlin start-up Fanzone , which was founded this year as a spin-off from Porsche Digital, is currently enjoying a lot of attention . The newest member of BerChain has won the German Football Association (DFB) as a cooperation partner for the upcoming European Championship (EM) and represents the participating football players as digital collector’s pictures in the form of NFT.
The NFT are not just simple collector’s items, but will be supplemented by a further functionality for the EM. Token owners should then be able to participate in a fantasy soccer league with their NFT. In the future, Fanzone would like to adapt the principle to other sports and thus convince fans all over the world of the NFT’s innovation. Fanzone works closely with Lukso , another Berlin start-up. Lukso has developed a blockchain infrastructure that is particularly well suited for the emission of NFT.
Another world first, which made the rounds on social media in the last few weeks, was the first house that was auctioned via an NFT . The user from Berlin, known under the name “UGN”, offered his house in the Hessian city of Usingen on the NFT marketplace OpenSea . The minimum bid of 34 Eth (about $ 74,000 at the time) was not met, but it laid the foundation for selling homes through NFT.
The upcoming release of a white label NFT platform from License.rocks is no less innovative, another Berlin start-up that was recently selected as one of ten start-ups for the prestigious German Entrepreneur Award. With its ERC-1155 standard, License.rocks is already combining fungible with non-fungible tokens in a single smart contract – a far-reaching technological innovation. The first version of their white label NFT solution runs on a Matic / Polygon sidechain. Great emphasis was placed on UX, design and payment. Even newcomers to the crypto world should be able to register as easily as possible and then be convinced by a positive user experience. It was recently announced that the platform would already be used to issue an NFT to Kay One and Stard Ova’s song “ Wallet ”.
As with many other aspects of blockchain technology, Berlin has established itself as one of the most important locations for innovation and development when it comes to NFT. The next few months in particular will show whether Berlin can establish itself as a leading center for NFT-based technology in the long term.
