On 7 July 2022, Business China organised its first in-person Youth Series event titled “When Philanthropy Meets NFT”.
Mr Miao Shiming, Founder of WABC Foundation and Visiting Fellow at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, was invited to speak about his experience promoting global art integration and the use of NFTs to support art projects in China, Singapore and beyond.
Removing labels and stigma: Using beauty and arts as mediums of communication
Mr Miao gave a brief introduction of the WABC Foundation, an organisation dedicated to fostering an inclusive social environment for the marginalised community by offering arts integration services and public inclusion advocacy activities.
WABC had successfully organised numerous initiatives over the past few years, including the “Mismatched Socks Day” collaboration with Chinese corporations such as Soul App and Baidu Baike. As part of the initiative, participants wore mismatched socks to show their support for people with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and their families.
Art in the Web 2.0 Age: Borderless, Timelessness and Reach
The dissemination of art in the internet age is borderless, timeless and far-reaching. As such, social media has become an integral channel in the promotion of global art integration. For example, WABC collaborated with Tencent Charity Foundation, to encourage WeChat users to purchase wallpapers drawn by WABC beneficiaries at 1 RMB each. Over 5.8 million people took part in the project, raising over RMB 15 million.
Art in the Web 3.0: Discovering New Possibilities in a New Time
However, Mr Miao noted that the sustainability and conversion rate of such partnerships was a concern. As far as data protection was concerned, internet companies would never divulge user data to external parties. As a result, WABC could not contact and re-engage the donors from their social media partnerships because they do not have access to the personal identifiable information of these people. This made WABC rethink its approach for art integration and search of new breakthroughs for social good. The NFT craze in 2021 brought a ray of hope for Mr Miao and his team. NFTs became the new experimental ground for the arts and philanthropy scene by redefining data access, ownership, and experience.
The foundation’s new strategic objectives provided WABC with the impetus to open a regional office in Southeast Asia. As a highly internationalised city, Singapore was the ideal place for the NFT industry to thrive, and became WABC’s top choice for its new office location.
Value of NFT: Embodying Value More than Perceived Worth
In response to questions about whether the high transaction costs of NFTs would raise the bar for individuals to enter the market, and if investors can expect to earn from NFTs, Mr Miao explained that NFTs have values that buyers and businesses assign to them. To profit from NFTs, one typically need to wait for their NFTs to appreciate. Beyond monetary rewards, NFTs’ timelessness and intangible qualities enable them to embody values that may be significantly more than what it is originally worth. Such unique existence and encompassing qualities of NFTs are what fuelled the industry’s rapid growth.
The session was moderated by Ms Sun Wenzhen, a third-year student at Nanyang Technological University and Vice President (Internal) of the Business China Youth Chapter (BCYC). The emcee for this session was Mr Ulric Teo, also a member of BCYC and a co-founder of a stealth startup.