UnionBank unit pushed NFT trading

The financial technology arm of Union Bank of the Philippines sees further adoption of nonfungible token (NFT) trading with the recent launching of a platform that features art pieces as digital assets.

Erica Dizon-Go, head of fintech business group of the Aboitiz-led bank, said during the Philippine Fintech Festival briefing on Tuesday that NFT has allowed the public to build wealth on their own.

“It could be everyone. You don’t have to be an expert trader for NFTs but it will help you and uplift you by owning something,” she explained.

Digital assets that are being traded like equities — including cryptocurrency and NFTs — have been gaining traction in the country following the rise of the popular play-to-earn blockchain-based game Axie Infinity.

“During the pandemic, a lot of people were looking what to do, how to earn extra income [amid] a lot of layoffs,” Dizon-Go said.

Riding on this trend, UnionBank unit UBX recently introduced NFT platform Artifract with art-tech startup Unit 256 Ventures Inc. as its partner.

To democratize art, the platform seeks to make the NFT versions of exclusive collections of art institutes and fractionalize them into tiles available for purchase. This means breaking an NFT into smaller pieces, allowing multiple owners of a single art at a cheaper cost.

“The bedrock of Artifract is inclusivity, and through this process, art ownership is no longer within the exclusive province of the upper class, but is now brought closer to the average Filipino,” UBX president and CEO John Januszczak said earlier.

“Needless to say, the response was nothing short of warm and welcoming. With such successful precedent, there is no doubt that the launch will be welcomed with just as much enthusiasm,” Unit 256 co-founder Stephanie Oller added.

Moving forward, Dizon-Go said that the NFT space would continue to grow.

“It is still in its infancy. We will still see more platforms where people build their NFTs and put them out to the market,” she said.