Last Updated on Monday, 25 October, 2021 at 1:14 pm by Andre Camilleri
The AIBC summit in Malta is just a month away, with professionals from emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Technology, Big Data and the Internet of Things being present for the summit which will be held between 15 and 19 November.
The Malta Business Weekly met up with one of the representatives of the cryptocurrency project Curate (which has a native token called XCUR), Tomás Domingos. Domingos is the vice president of Curate, which is a gasless Non-Fungible Token (NFT) and peer-to-peer marketplace for people utilising cryptocurrency as a method of payment for buying and selling NFTs and physical goods.
What the NFT?
Many people find it difficult to wrap their head around what a NFT is, but it appears to be capturing the attention of a lot of people around the globe.
“I think the best way to explain it is that it is a token registered on the blockchain and it’s unique,” Domingos said.
NFTs are touted to be the solution to an underlying problem for digital artists to get paid for their work, but the sphere of NFTs is getting bigger and wider, with the concept expanding to gaming and photography, among other things.
“You started seeing it being implemented in fine art and now you see a lot of NFTs related to gaming. So, trying to restrict NFTs to one thing is a hard task when there is a lot going on around the subject at the same time,” Domingos remarked.
Curate – All-in-one marketplace
Being part of the project for Domingos is “to be a part of something that you love, which is crypto […] and it’s also very related to economics, which is another passion of mine”.
With the current state of affairs of the blockchain world, where innovative projects are starting to shape up and garner the attention of people, Domingos explained that their project is focusing on the edge they have over their competitors when it comes to minting NFTs and peer-to-peer marketplace.
“The biggest thing is that we are gas free […] it’s something that we’re fixing in the crypto world and something that needs to be fixed,” he said.
Domingos asserted that the team is building a project which is “future proof” and that the project is trying to do something which they feel is of crucial importance and which is “bridging the gap between mainstream commerce and crypto”.
“Every marketplace and platform will have different niches and quirks. We’ve built the best user experience on the market and we’re not done yet,” he said.
Domingos also noted that the project recently made history when it became the first marketplace on the iOS app store to allow buying and selling of NFTs. He also noted that they are the first major peer-to-peer, physical goods marketplace in the blockchain world.
The future of Curate
Asked about what Curate users should expect in the short-term future, Domingos said that there are a lot of works “in the pipeline”.
Other features, which the team is working on, include adding collections for NFTs, the import and export feature for NFTs and a different UI experience.
“Although we see the UI as really good, we feel that maybe right now is the time for an update,” he remarked.
Curate is also looking to up the ante when it comes to marketing with partnerships and celebrities, while they are also working on listings on other exchanges. On the latter note, this includes major exchanges such as Binance, which the team has already submitted their application for.
Charity auction at the AIBC
At the AIBC summit, the project is going to be holding an NFT auction in aid of YoungMinds, a mental health charity.
“A community contest is going to take place where users of Curate submit their best NFT related to mental health. Then, we are going to pick the best NFT submitted as the winner,” he explained
Whoever wins the competition will get his NFT auctioned during the event and will get a verified badge in his Curate profile, allowing the winner to gain more exposure as well, Domingos said.
“It’s a really exciting opportunity for users and for us to give back to them,” he said.
