Ripple CTO David Schwartz predicted earlier this year that the second wave of tokenized assets would shift to utility-based NFTs. In fact, every Ripple executive that weighed in on 2023 crypto trends predicted that 2023 will be the year of real-world utility.
It appears as though those digital token predictions are already coming true. One of the top trends in Web3 that has emerged over the past year is the bridging of physical products, services, and experiences with the digital world—also known as ‘phygital NFTs’. From bringing IRL concerts to the metaverse; to digital token gating with utility; brands, musicians and creators can offer exclusive products and content to their followers—powered by blockchain technology. It’s no surprise some of the biggest household names in the fashion and food and beverage industries including Starbucks, Nike, Adidas, and Balmain have adopted a tokenization strategy as a way to cultivate digital experiences and relationships directly with their audiences and offer new content distribution channels.
Last October, Ripple brought a wave of NFT creators transforming the entertainment and media industry—specifically music—through its Creator Fund. Today, Ripple is unlocking new tokenization use cases on the XRP Ledger with creators focused on blending physical and digital experiences with real-world utility.
Introducing Wave 3 Winners of Ripple’s Creator Fund
Since XLS-20 hit Mainnet, the XRP Ledger saw hundreds of projects benefit from the XRP Ledger’s low-cost, carbon-neutral, instant settlement, and built in royalty structures—maximizing value for NFT creators and their communities to consume content.
Ripple has continued to invest in functional NFT projects through its Creator Fund, a $250 million commitment to foster innovation in tokenization. The Creator Fund provides financial, creative and technical support to help creators bring their phygital NFT projects to life on the XRPL, stretch the bounds of what’s possible and explore new use cases for NFTs.
Through the Creator Fund, Ripple hopes to continue to accelerate the future of tokenization and digital experiences led by seven independent creators, including:
Hot Import Nights:
Adrian Balastegui:
Emporio Records:
Mike Sotirakos:
Natacha Einat:
Robert Chew:
TraumAmnesia:
It’s exciting to hear firsthand from these visionary creators how they plan to leverage NFTs on the XRPL. As Romain Lohezic of TraumAmnesia says, “The arrival of NFTs is a total game changer for creators. The speed of transfer, carbon neutrality and simplicity of the XRPL are major pluses. As an artist, I’m very happy to participate in the development of this use case at scale.”
Spurring the Next Generation of Creators
The Creator Fund today has attracted over 5,000+ applications to-date to realize the value and benefits of the XRP Ledger for tokenized assets. Throughout the remainder of 2023, Ripple will double down on this year’s previously announced winners to bring their phygital NFT projects to life.
Check out the developer reflections spotlight series to see what Creator Fund winners and other community members are building on the XRP Ledger.
To learn more about Ripple’s Creator Fund, visit https://ripple.com/creatorfund/.
