Spanish National Museum Thyssen to mint the exclusive collection of Van Gogh NFT

July 17, 2023 Editorial Staff 413 Views Kerem Bursin

For the first time in Spain, a national museum will mint its own NFT: an exclusive collection with Van Gogh masterpieces.

“These artworks were converted into high-definition NFTs via blockchain technology and certified by the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, a national museum,” Carlos Grenoir, CEO of metaverse platform Olyverse, told Decrypt.

The Olyverse platform is presented as a decentralized star club, aiming to bridge the gap between fans and celebrities in an innovative and decentralized way, linking club members via NFT). Fans can interact with the stars through various activities and participate in metaverse experiences.

Each NFT, representing an original piece, is part of a limited run, with only 100 available for purchase in partnership with Telefónica and its NFT marketplace.

“By democratizing access to art through NFT, we hope to enable people to experience Van Gogh’s works in a new way,” said Grenoir. “Our metaverse serves as a platform to exhibit and explore these digital masterpieces, offering an immersive and enriching experience that transcends the traditional boundaries of museums.”

Additionally, in partnership with tech giant LG, Van Gogh NFT owners will be able to display their digital artworks via blockchain-powered displays.

The choice of Van Gogh as the first historical artist to be included in the Olyverse was obvious. “Besides the fact that I love Van Gogh, we wanted an artist who is universally recognized, who embodies the same philosophy as ours and who creates something new and disruptive,” he told Decrypt.

Bridging the gap between fans and celebrities

The first chapter of the Olyverse origin story begins with an encounter.

After graduating as an engineer specializing in cybersecurity and neuroscience, Grenoir was working in the cybersecurity field when he met Kevin Mitnick, a renowned hacker and security expert. This meeting led to the construction of a platform with the aim of taking advantage blockchain technology and VR to offer a new kind of interaction between stars and fans.

For now, the platform offers experiences with Alvaro Morte, the Spanish actor who plays Netflix’s Money Heist. Ex-footballer Carles Puyol, actress Elsa Pataki and actor Kerem Bürsin will also be joining soon, along with a digitized version of Vincent Van Gogh, who is also featured as a member of this star club.

To bring more users on board, the Olyverse team worked to make the metaverse accessible to people who don’t know how to use a wallet.

“Olyverse prioritized the user experience and made sure that access to the metaverse didn’t require VR glasses or cryptocurrency knowledge. Everything happens behind the scenes, to enable easy mainstream adoption in our OLY utility and everything the ecosystem,” Grenoir said.

Although users can connect via MetaMask or other digital wallets, they also have the option of using credit cards.

With its metaverse, Olyverse aims to combine entertainment and education, while leveraging blockchain technology along the way.

“We want to create the number one Metaverse in the world by offering all these activities, with free courses every day in different areas such as painting, music, cinema, fitness or cooking, for example,” he said. “We will also continue to develop the interactions between stars and users, having our token in the middle.”

Olyverse also introduced the concept of Non-Fungible Stories (NFS), a series that puts the audience in the director’s chair, allowing them to control the story and shape the future of the show. They are also granted additional benefits such as auditioning with the stars, enrolling in acting courses and attending exclusive events.

“Metaverse is something that’s here to stay and we’re going to see a lot of developments,” he said. “Now we see Apple exploring Metaverse. Meta competes with Quest Pro as social media evolves into this 3D environment. There’s a very bright future for this, the competition is on and we’ll be there.”