THE RISE OF DIGITAL ART
KEVIN SUSANTO elaborates on his experience with NFTs, the cultural phenomenon of the year, and the way it is revolutionising the way we conceive art. Riga Ramadhan covers
The last time we met serial entrepreneur Kevin Susanto, he shared the story of his expansive business ventures with Prestige. Besides helming EnviGo! and its environmental ventures, he also heads a number of F&B ventures, namely Goola and Gaaram, as well as Glatuk, a low-calorie ice cream brand. He explained that in business, it is important to stay innovative and keep improving: “If you are an entrepreneur or a businessman, you need to invest more in your knowledge, as well. You have to stay informed about what’s going on in the market and about the economy. Besides experience, knowledge is also important. Don’t be shy to ask someone who is better than you to teach you. Ask a lot, learn a lot. That’s an important thing to do. It is going to help you a lot in growing your business.”
Speaking about improving as well as staying innovative, we get to see the latest ventures from Susanto in the realm of technology. Particularly in NFTs. The term NFT (nonfungible token) remains one of the most talked-about topics of 2022. For anyone still unfamiliar with what it actually means, to put it plain and simple, an NFT refers to a unique digital asset that cannot be copied. Since no two NFTs are the same, it’s one of a kind. As digital assets, they function as valuable items that can be traded in the digital space and they are held in a digital or a cold storage hardware wallet the same way cryptocurrencies are.
Below are excerpts from Prestige Indonesia’s interview with
Kevin Susanto as an NFTs enthusiast.
First and foremost, what kind of NFT projects or artworks do you usually like to buy?
Actually, it depends on whether the NFT is fully for investment or just for trading and to be flipped for profits. For the investment ones, it has to be the blue-chip NFT project, which is among top three, namely CyberKongz, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and also CryptoPunks. For trading, we can see where the NFT project is going to be launched, and we can buy them at mint price. So, when the floor price is high, two or three times higher than the mint price, we can sell and trade it directly for profit.
Are there any particular NFTs in your current collection that you feel very connected to?
The first NFT that I really feel connected to is my Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), because that was my first bluechip NFT purchase back in October. So, basically, that’s my identity. What I like about this monkey is that it was so clean compared to any other mutant ape, which is kind of scary. I like that one.
What are the things you consider before buying a new NFT project? Do you look at any specific metrics, developers, or signals?
When we buy an NFT project, obviously we already know if it’s a blue-chip project: It’s proven, the project is more than six months old, the price is stable, the community is already strong, and they also offer utility. However, for the ones that are going to be launched, usually I’ll look at the hype of the particular project. Does the project have good traction on Twitter? Are the teams behind it fully documented? What about the utility of the projec? Are they the first mover that can make the floor price when we mint it higher? Those are the things that I always consider before buying a new NFT project.
In your opinion, why are people paying so much for them? Why do you think NFTs have become so valuable in such a short space of time?
I think it’s because of its scarcity. Rarity, if you will. Take, for example, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). If they stated that their collection is only 10,000, then it’s only available at 10,000. It can’t be added to nor subtracted from. It’s also like intellectual property that’s based on supply and demand. If the people that have bought it and the community is happy at the same time, obviously, they’re going to keep it. And when they do that, the floor price will go up as well. So, why is it expensive? Because people know digitalization in assets is important.
And the best part is, in the world of NFT, you can create and sell whatever you want. You can sell pixelated art, 2D art, 3D art, a .gif, or something that can be moved like Invisible Friends – the current hyped NFT collection of 5,000 animated invisible characters. In this world, the trend