Faith-based entertainment company TruPlay is looking to jump into the NFT space.
Key Details
- In September, Christian mobile developer TruPlay minted non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on seven characters from its game Maple and the Forest of Words.
- Around 6,650 NFTs were sold internationally for free and sold out within 10 minutes, earning 10% off of secondary sales and raising as much as $250,000.
- TruPlay claims the release was the biggest ever NFT release from a faith-based company, Christianity Today reports.
- “The NFTs are a way for families to back their video game venture. [TruPlay’s CEO says] it’s like a next-generation way to get the community involved in helping to build and support financially things they want to see,” says Christianity Today.
Why it’s important
The successful NFT sale was very helpful for TruPlay, who were able to do some necessary fundraising and promotion. It sees NFTs as powerful promotion tools that can help them bring Christian cultural discussions to the forefront of the arts.
The degree to which this is the case though is unclear. Ethereum and other blockchains are suffering from severe volatility at the moment and the NFT market has suffered with it. Ethereum has lost 71.4% of its value since November 8, 2021.
Christians seeking to get their voices out there through the NFT space may already be jumping on dying technology.
“Using NFTs for Christian organizations may have advantages and disadvantages… Although NFTs are now in the headlines, he is doubtful of how long the tokens’ popularity will last. The aggregate number of NFT sales has decreased for five consecutive months at OpenSea,” says crypto website Next NFT Drop.
Backing up a bit
Many prominent churches and religious non-profit organizations have embraced NFTs as a promotional tool—incorporating technology into their ministry and outreach efforts.
“The nonprofit Compassion International raised money to support college scholarships for students in Haiti through virtual reality NFTs depicting Haitian landscapes. Released in July, the VR pieces combined art and technology to appeal to buyers. Sales of its NFTs resulted in more than $220,000 during the initial mint and more than $3,400 from secondary sales in OpenSea,” says Christianity Today.
“A group called Reformers NFT created a collection of NFTs based on Christian leaders in March. Featuring figures like John Calvin and Martin Luther, it has more than $8,000 in sales volume. The group, which calls itself ‘a pioneering community of Christians,’ created the pieces to help Christians embrace technology, according to their OpenSea Site.”
