Aloha NFT, Hawaiʻi’s first NFT marketplace, launched in April of 2021. Their mission is to help the next generation of local creatives in Hawaiʻi "share their aloha" with the rest of the world, utilizing blockchain technology. John Prime, co-founder of Aloha NFT and founder of 808 Urban, says, "I feel like crypto and NFTs are here now, and we must provide a platform for our artists, community and especially, our children, to engage and create."
For their genesis drop, "Alohachella", 22 local artists have formed a collective to turn their artwork into NFTs, with physical collector cards to redeem the NFTs. "Despite Hawaiʻi’s limitations on crypto exchanges, Aloha NFT has found a way to provide local collectors a fun and engaging way to access NFTs," says Kaʻiulani Kauihou, co-founder of Aloha NFT and founder of Hawaiʻi publishing company Hiʻohia.
Aloha NFT has also officially secured a grant from Polygon Studios, a top 5 NFT token, to further spread awareness for the project. Polygon Studios is the NFT (non-fungible token) arm of the layer-two Ethereum scaling network called Polygon (MATIC). The studio, which debuted last July, is committing $100 million to projects utilizing the Polygon blockchain.
Daniel Kim, co-founder of Aloha NFT and founder of www.nft4good.com, explains, "We want local artists and collectors to participate in the NFT movement by making NFTs easy and accessible through these physical NFT redemption cards. This allows users of all levels to participate in collecting NFTs that may or may not have an existing crypto wallet." Aloha NFT has a set of physical redemption cards, powered by Meteor NFT, that use their patent-pending QR code technology, which enables users to redeem the NFT.
The Alohachella launch is 2/22/22 at 2:22 p.m. HST and is available at www.alohanft.com.
- NFTs will sell for $30 each
- All NFTs issued through a redeemable physical collectors card
- Five rare holographic versions of each NFT will be randomly minted
- 22 NFT art pieces with 100 editions each will be made available
- 80% of profits go directly back to the participating Hawaiʻi artists
- 10% of profits will be donated to a local Hawaiʻi charity
