SNEAK PEEK
- Gulf News has now joined global brands in the NFT world.
- The NFT launch was held in partnership with Virtua.
- Retaining the Gulf News archives as NFTs would increase reader engagement.
Gulf News, Dubai’s elite daily English newspaper, has entered the space with the launch of its NFT. As per a report, Gulf News now owns an NFTs collection that was created and available live in the digital world for the first time.
A two-day tech event, Web3 DeCode, has been organized by the UAE-based newspaper to bring the audience an experience of the journey in digital space through a series of photographs.
The NFT launch was held in partnership with a blockchain-driven virtual reality (VR) platform, Virtua.
Gulf News announced a post on Twitter:
Watch: Gulf News now has an NFT marketplace https://t.co/awtg0SeZBk The NFT launch was held in association with Virtua, a blockchain-driven virtual reality (VR) platform
— Gulf News (@gulf_news) June 25, 2022
Paul Wallis, Head of Art – Virtua, NFT marketplace, has worked with popular brands like Paramount, Hero ISL, Williams Racing, and Legendary Entertainment. Now, he has added Gulf News to its list of partners.
Wallis stated:
Today, Gulf News is once again pushing forward into the future, embracing the world of Web3 – a new version of the internet that integrates blockchain technology and the Metaverse.
He believes preserving Gulf News’ historical archives like NFTs will engage readers by allowing them to collect moments from UAE’s history.
Additionally, he said that as the metaverse keeps growing and coming to life, it enables the Gulf News team to host events and gallery exhibitions like programs.
Wallis said that they possess a series of colors, black and white and sepia NFTs, and they are priced so that almost everyone can get a piece of this NFT collection.
Wallis stated that similar to all other art, NFT artworks are also not to be seen as an attachment with utility. Buying an NFT is just like buying a piece of art from a gallery.
CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center, Marwan Al Zarouni, led the NFT launch. Gulf News CEO, Editor in Chief, and Executive Director of Publishing, Abdul Hamid Ahmad, was also there alongside Head of Art at Virtua, Paul Wallis, on the stage.
