The young pool behind a digital platform involved with selling stuff online hopes that Filipino artists in general will benefit first and foremost from its modern technology operation and noble cause.

Boldly being described as Philippines’ first NFT marketplace for artists and celebrities, VNT Vention app is set for a "fair launch” in a few days’ time to be aired on various social media platforms on July 30. The event will feature model Daiana Meneses as host, and appearances of stunner Ivana Alawi and rap icon Gloc 9.

The platform’s main objective is to encourage Pinoy artists - from musicians to painters, current toasts or seasoned acts - to use the blockchain technology to immortalize their works and distribute their masterpieces to collectors and fans. Vention argues that “by tokenizing their works and selling them on a digital marketplace, they can maximize their marketing efforts for visibility and reach for potential customers."

Founder Julius Santillan, a young cryptocurrency trader and entrepreneur, noted during a virtual press conference last Friday (July 23), “Gusto naming suportahan ang mga local artists natin especially yung mga hindi masyadong nabibigyan ng pansin ng mainstream media. Besides, global po ang reach ng digital marketplace natin kaya kung ano man ang gusto niyong ibenta, maraming makakakita.”

VNT Vention is touted as a market venue focusing on artists and their creations, one that is secure and would let anyone create, buy, sell, or collect digital merchandize with minimal platform fees. Its goal is to expand its user base and reach. It’s the first of its kind in the Philippines as it wishes to attract more local artists being the country's first artist-focused marketplace with a global reach.

Its site provides information as to how it will help its target community. That is, by providing a marketplace to be known, safekeeping arts and crafts, connecting people to art collectors, and ensuring them of a solid and supportive community.

Vention spokesperson Jacob Montemayor pointed out, “Nagcreate kami ng platform designed para sa mga local artists and celebrities para makatulong at i-showcase ang kanilang talents na kadalasang di narerecognize. Pwede nila ilako through Vention ang mga vinyl collections nila o mga artworks.”

The app presented a simple sample case for those interested to understand further how user-friendly Vention is. It goes: Peter is a young, talented artist with a painting good enough to be counted as a masterpiece. But he has no connections in the art sector. Upon finding Vention, he tokenized his work and put it up for auction through the site’s Auctioning platform. The highest bid for the painting ended up to be $1.2 million.

NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is defined as a unit of data stored on the digital ledger blockchain that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. NFTs can be used to represent items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. It is said that NFT’s ability to confer uniqueness has led to a boom in the digital art community.

Santillan said that they had already tapped notable artists interested in selling their collectibles by way of Vention.

A report noted that last year, Startrek actor William Shatner ventured into digital collectibles and issued 90,000 digital cards on blockchain. It now provides him passive income every time a card is resold.

Vention hopes that some Filipino freelancers, especially in the field of arts, get to dig deeper into this 21st century marketplace and become recipients of good returns.