Throughout 2021, NFT's have been have rapidly been taking over the world, and it is now the MENA region's turn. Many projects have been emerging from the region, featuring with them, characters that reflect the culture of the Middle East. One of these projects is Abu Crypto. Abu Crypto is a collection of 4400 authentic 8 bit digital artwork representing 8 members of a traditional Arab family. The founders are passionate about the Arab region and they hope to spread their love of the Arab region through this carefully curated NFT project. Every one of the characters is bespoke. Rarity is created through in-built wasta levels and personalized traits for each member of the family, from HAJI to Bint. The project will be launched on the 13th of November and had 2 pre-sale launches. The team set up an event to celebrate the successful launch on Nov 18th at the Raddison Red Hotel in Dubai Silicon Oasis. The event featured an auction of the rarest Abu Crypto NFT and was exclusively attended by Abu Crypto holders, creatives, entrepreneurs and members of UAE royal families. We sit down with Rob from Abu Crypto to discuss how the project came about, NFT's in the MENA region and the future of the project.
-Have you always been an entrepreneur, what was your first step onto your entrepreneurial journey?
I have always had an eye for opportunities, my father ran a successful company so I grew up on the shop floor, at business barbeques, watching, listening and seeing how deals where made and struck. Personally, I started my own recruitment company at 22 which was my first business venture, it's early success allowed me the time to explore the world, travel to remote regions and volunteering and work for a range of humanitarian organizations. Since then, I have slowly built a property portfolio, but have been actively involved in Crypto currencies for some time now.
-What was your first interaction with NFT’s?
My first interaction with NFT's was with Crypto Punks some years ago, unfortunately, I did not get hold of one, would have been a good decision.
-How did the idea for Abo Cryptp come about?
There is a group of us in Abu Dhabi that meet regularly to discuss all thing CRYPTO....one of us came up with the initial idea and it then grew among us, before long we realized that we where onto something.
-What was the process like behind creating an NFT project and choosing the characteristics,
It was great fun, we had lots of brainstorming in the beginning, consulted at lengths with the local Emirati community and looked at what was currently successful in the NFT world. Then we continued to shape the project looking at scaling ability and rarity traits.
-What kind of reaction are you getting from your community so far?
We like to think the of the community behind the project in two parts, the international market seems to be impressed with the art work and design, concept and notion of what we are looking to do. Then there is the local UAE market, based on our market research they absolutely love it and cant wait for it to be for sale.
-With NFT’s still being a relatively new thing that most people in the Arab world are not aware of, what role do you think this project will play in raising awareness about NFT’s and Blockchain tech in the region? This is one of the reason we decided to do the project, the UAE and MENA region is at the forefront of so many tech ventures and and advancement, but seemed to be slow when it comes to waking up to the idea of NFT's. We hope that this launch and the others we have lined up, that are bespoke to the UAE will really shed a light on it.
-Where do you see Abo crypto going in the next 5 years? I think that in the next 5 years Abu Crypto will become a household brand in the UAE and MENA region. We already have signed partnerships with a Hotel to showcase our art, a chain of coffee houses is close to coming on board as well. Collaborations with local artists of many forms are in advanced discussion and we really feel this just the start. Along side making NFT art, one of the main aim of Abu Crypto is to support artists in the MENA region who are incredibly talented, but perhaps cannot enter into the NFT marketplace. We want to provide all artist the opportunity to showcase their work and potentially make it financially profitable for them, which will in turn help them, their family and their community. This is the long term dream, we have started our journey towards it.
-In your opinion, what use do you think NFTS will have beyond art in the future That is simple, they will become part of every aspect of live as we know it: art, films, music and this is just the entertainment industry.
Check out the interview with the Abu Crypto founders below:
Follow Abu Crypto on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/abucryptonft/
Check out their website at: https://www.abucrypto.io/
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