What if investing in a jellyfish NFT was the future? The Aquarium of Paris made the daring bet to develop in collaboration with the company Metaseum, specialized in Web3 support for cultural institutions, its first NFT collection and opted for jellyfish. The choice was quickly made, the Paris Aquarium possessing, outside of Japan, the largest collection of jellyfish in the world. “The jellyfish is the image, the symbol of the Aquarium of Paris”, assures Martijn van Schaik, CEO of metasium.
Named the Jellyfish Collection, the 1,234 NFTs have been on sale since December 16. “We wanted this collection to be scientifically valid, so our team dedicated to jellyfish worked hand in hand with the artists of Metaseum so that all the biological characteristics of each species were brought together”, explains Etienne Bourgouin, marine biologist at the Paris Aquarium.
Unique NFTs
A pioneer in jellyfish and a pioneer in the metaverse, the Aquarium de Paris aims to provide NFT buyers with not only unlimited and free access to the institution, discounts in store, invitations to events VIP (meetings with biologists, guided tours of the basins, invitation to the arrival of the polyps of the purchased species) and to the establishment’s nightclub, but also substantial educational support on the life of these different unknown species .
In Paris, there are some 60 different jellyfish, which have been 3D modeled by Metaseum and combined with 24 seabeds, to create unique NFTs. Far from the cliché of the nasty jellyfish that rots the fifteen days of annual vacation in Arcachon (no, urine is not a good idea), Martijn van Schaik sees in it a certain rehabilitation of these maligned specimens: “It’s also a way to see jellyfish in a positive and poetic way. They are older than the dinosaurs and they make it possible to develop many treatments. »
A first step towards the cultural metaverse
In three weeks, between 45 and 50 NFTs were sold. “It doesn’t seem like much, but in fact, we don’t have to sell quickly like some purely artistic NFTs,” puts Martijn van Schaik into perspective. It’s like an entry ticket to the Aquarium, not all of them need to be sold in one day. “Some buy it for the art, others for access to the aquarium, still others to get all the scientific information around jellyfish, which makes it a new product. “From its origins in 1867, the Paris Aquarium has been at the heart of innovation. First modern aquarium built at the heart of the industrial revolution, it made a deep impression and even inspired Jules Vernes to Twenty thousand leagues under sea, says Alexis Powilewicz, CEO of the Paris Aquarium. Science and art find a new fertile ground for exchange, to embody the magic of the ocean in the virtual world. »
Metaseum works mainly with three biologists from the Aquarium de Paris, which has made it possible to code and integrate into the blockchain all the scientific and educational information around jellyfish. The company, created just a year ago, aims to build a metaverse of culture. “You have to imagine a digital world with all the museums, all the monuments and the Paris Aquarium is one of our first projects”, explains Martijn van Schaik. He bets that this NFT collaboration will be the first step towards a cultural metaverse, a way to start building a community around these topics. “So imagine that these 3D jellyfish could be integrated into the metaverse and roam freely in the virtual world. We shiver in advance.