Marvel To Offer NFT Digital Collectibles

Despite recent headlines like "NFT Market Has Officially Crashed" from HYPEBEAST, Marvel Entertainment and Orbis Blockchain Technologies Limited have announced plans to begin releasing official Marvel NFT digital collectibles, 3D statues, and digital comic books. An official press release says that the VeVe Digital Collectibles App will allow Marvel fans "a rich collecting experience" where they can "buy and collect a variety of Marvel NFTs; trade and hunt for rare (and even secret-rare) NFT comic books and collectibles; and display their hard-earned collection through fully customizable virtual showrooms." Further details about what these will be specifically are to be announced in the coming weeks.

"Marvel has been exploring with VeVe how to make the Marvel digital collecting experience as special as the physical experience, and we are excited to finally be able to share this vision with our fans," said Daniel Fink, Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, Marvel Entertainment. "Through VeVe's platform, we hope to expand the limits of what Marvel fandom can be, starting with personal and interactive digital collectibles that, through NFTs, fans can truly collect, share, and enjoy in a way that they have not been able to do before."

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs have previously been linked to having a negative ecological impact, but Orbis' VeVe Digital Collectibles App announced earlier this year that it has plans "to be the first-ever carbon neutral NFT platform and committed to 100% carbon neutral NFTs." A press release from the company back in March of this year revealed their current intention to offset their carbon footprint "by purchasing carbon credits equal to the amount of CO2 used in minting NFTs." VeVe does also not operate on the "Ethereum blockchain," the primary source for many other NFTs which has resulted in increased energy consumption.

On their official website they write: "Minting an NFT on VeVe requires 99% less energy consumption and has a 99% lower carbon footprint compared to minting on the Ethereum blockchain." In addition VeVe has announced grants equal to approximately $7 million USD on their platform "for environmental non-profits and charities who wish to mint and sell NFTs for fundraising and other purposes."

"Since the beginning, collecting has always gone hand in hand with being a Marvel fan," Dan Buckley, President, Marvel Entertainment said. "Like us, VeVe understands collecting is about the experience just as much as the product, and we look forward to extending that experience for our fans over the years to come."

In recent months several celebrities and companies have attempted to jump onto the growing popularity of NFTs and cryptocurrencies but with this more mainstream popularity has come a backlash as critics have linked such technologies as having a disastrous effect on the planet and exacerbating climate problems.

In a detailed explainer on the subject, Gizmodo writes: "Without major overhauls to how tokens are created and sold, critics warn, it could ultimately help foist untold horrors on the biosphere and, by extension, humanity." You can read more about that here.