Saray Arranz, product manager of Web3 and Metaverse at the company, foresees a rebound in demand for these digital assets, which are successful in video games, cinema and music.

Telefónica has added two new NFT collections to its marketplace with which it aims to revolutionize the Latin American coffee market by promoting the sustainability of the sector.

The 'Green' and 'Carbono' collections, which consist of 10 different NFTs, are part of the 'Harvverse' project, an initiative that seeks to "revolutionize the coffee industry in Latin America within the metaverse through technology", has explained in an interview by the product manager of Web3 and Metaverso, Telefónica Innovación Digital, Saray Arranz Cancho.

"What Harvverse wants is to revolutionize the coffee industry and create a virtual ecosystem where investors, in addition to buying an NFT and having it in their wallet , are buying real coffee plots in different countries around the world," explained Arranz, who has highlighted the concept of "fhygital", which points to the "union between the physical and the digital.

The acquisition of 'Harvverse' NFTs through Telefónica's NFT marketplace allows you to buy or rent 150 trees for a minimum of five and a maximum of ten years (with the possibility of harvesting them from the fifth year) and participate in the promotion of sustainable agriculture in the coffee sector.

As Arranz explained, both collections represent the ownership and yields of the coffee plot and help launch "a project for employment and the future of work" in the area, as well as allocate the proceeds to technological education. for affected farmers. In addition, the blockchain chain allows for coffee traceability.

"Thanks to this, what is being promoted at all times is that agricultural practices are sustainable and that there is a preservation of farms, which can allow sustainability to be strengthened in the coffee industry. Through AI they analyze climate data, soil and crops in real time, allowing the optimization of planting, fertilization and irrigation practices for each plot, improving grain yields, while reducing costs and environmental impact," highlighted Arranz.

The "key" of the project is to support, through innovative technologies, old crop fields or industries that are currently a bit uprooted," he added.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACEABILITY

On the other hand, Telefónica has recently added to its marketplace another collection of 50 NFTs commemorating the film 'Calladita', presented by Steven Soderbergh, directed by Miguel Faus and starring Paula Grimaldo and Ariadna Gil. It is the first European film financed thanks to a collection of NFTs that was launched in 2022 and marked a milestone in the decentralization of cinema through the blockchain.

In this case, the collection gives access to exclusive making-of content and owners will have the opportunity to see unpublished behind-the-scenes videos and discover the details of how this film was made.

Among the benefits of applying these technologies to cinema, Arranz has cited "traceability", since the blockchain provides a record of each transaction that is made. As he pointed out, this allows "very clear monitoring of the intellectual property and the profits that the NFT is generating", so the buyer "can see at all times how those incomes are being distributed.

On the other hand, Arranz has highlighted the importance of "reducing traditional intermediaries", which "reduces costs and facilitates direct interaction between the content creator and the buyer" of the digital asset. In addition, he has indicated that the NFTs that can be purchased in the Telefónica marketplace provide opportunities for improvement and financing to smaller creators.

This implementation also has benefits for fans, as NFTs "foster close relationships between content creators and fans" and fans "can act as ambassadors by having access to "exclusive rewards," such as tickets to a premiere of cinema or a meeting with the director.

Another area of application of these assets is music. Thus, Telefónica allows you to acquire an exclusive NFT that gives access to the original document where David Summers wrote the lyrics of the song 'Rowland's Corner'.

"The buyer of that NFT will have the original lyrics written by David Summers in their hand," remarked Arranz, who has once again focused on the additional benefits that fans can obtain with these digital assets.

FROM INVESTORS TO ALL TYPES OF PUBLIC

The target audience of the NFTs market has varied in recent years, since three or four years ago investors in technology and cryptocurrencies were those interested in these digital assets and now there are "public of all types." People interested in understanding what an NFT is and who want to be digital art collectors without spending millions of euros, Arranz has indicated.

Regarding demand, the product manager of Web3 and Metaverse at Telefónica Innovación Digital has considered that after the "boom" at the beginning and the "stop" recorded later, there is currently a "rebound."

Spain, he indicated, is a country where "there is a rich artistic and cultural tradition with creative communities that are exploring the use of NFTs to monetize and distribute their work."

"I think it is a good breeding ground to explore the use of these NFTs or see other ways to gain access to art and culture experiences that are not traditional," he added.

In the case of Telefónica, he stated that those initiatives focused on social causes have always worked very well. In addition, he highlighted as a strength that people "trust" in buying assets backed by Telefónica.

IMPACT ON THE VIDEO GAME, FILM AND MUSIC SECTORS

Just as young people are more inclined to this type of digital assets, the sectors in which web3, the Metaverse or NFTs arouse the most interest are video games, cinema and music. For these audiences, additional content is offered, such as the Movistar Immersive Experience, or concerts in the Metaverse.

Looking to the future, Arranz explained that Telefónica's next challenges go hand in hand with its essence and focus on developing new applications relying on its infrastructure to achieve new revenue models within web3 and the metaverse, "always supported by security to protect users and in regulatory compliance, ensuring compliance with local and international laws and regulations, especially in areas such as data protection and privacy.