Digital art, gaming making NFTs appealing to Filipinos

Digital art and blockchain-based games are seen as the primary drivers for further adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the Philippines, according to blockchain adoption company TZ APAC.

“The Philippines, being one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies, has shown great promise in blockchain and NFT adoption,” David Tng, head of growth at TZ APAC, told the Inquirer.

Tng said he was seeing a growing number of Filipino artists using NFTs as a way to showcase their artworks in exhibitions abroad.

NFTs are unique digital assets existing on a blockchain, a highly advanced ledger that stores and secures data in the digital highway. These could be bought as investments that can later on be traded on an exchange platform.

“NFTs bring a lot of value in terms of IP (intellectual property). NFTs store transaction data on the blockchain, keeping a recorded history of all transactions involving the art,” he explained.

“Just like physical art, value is driven by a combination of scarcity, provenance and the artist’s vision. NFTs facilitate this scarcity and provenance by minting the token on the blockchain, recording the author of the piece and also ensuring no further copies can be created,” he added.

Tng also believes that NFT gaming will remain popular in the Philippines. Digital tokens that have value are collected in play-to-earn games, such as Axie Infinity, which gained traction at the height of the pandemic for providing an alternative source of income to Filipinos.

“NFT gaming will be the harbinger of more mass adoption. Over the next year and a half, we should expect to see millions of users entering this space,” Tng projected.

He said more game studios have been experimenting with NFTs in their products as they seek to innovate their offerings.

“Gaming is very likely to be the next area where innovation moves forward,” he added.