NFTs have been an internet game-changer.
Non-fungible tokens, (think of them as certificates of authenticity for digital artifacts) have taken the investment community by storm over the last few years and have sparked a fire in investors both novice and seasoned.
In response to the interest, Meta4 Capital, a cryptocurrency-focused investment management company, recently announced the launch of Meta4 NFT Fund I, LP, an investment vehicle that will buy rare NFTs. The Fund’s Managing Partners are Brandon Buchanan and Nabyl Charania.
The new private investment fund has secured a lead investment from Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. It comes at a time when NFTs have become the most interesting, entertaining and lucrative subsection of the cryptocurrency asset class. The Fund will invest in digital art and collectibles (i.e., Bored Ape Yacht Club), gaming-related NFTs (i.e, Zed Run), and metaverse-related purchase (i.e., virtual land).
“NFTs are the driving force behind a new generation of internet products and services that are sharing value directly between the millions of developers, artists, collectors, and even gamers that participate — rather than platforms that simply act as a middleman,” Arianna Simpson, general partner, a16z Crypto. “The Meta4 Capital team has a unique, proven pulse on the NFT market and across the web3 spectrum, and we’re thrilled to partner with them on this new fund.”
Earlier this year, Meta4 Capital launched and deployed its pilot vehicle, Meta4 Capital, LLC, with a mandate to buy digital art and collectibles, purchase virtual land and trade NFT-related cryptocurrencies. That vehicle acquired dozens of non-fungible tokens from various projects, including CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Meebits, Gutter Cat Gang, Zed Run and Sandbox among others.
“NFTs are more than just pixels. It’s the intersection of culture, technology and finance,” Brandon Buchanan of Met4 Capital said.” It represents a new way of thinking about the ways in which ‘value’ is accrued, harnessed and distributed. We are witnessing the disintermediation of intellectual property and where things are ultimately headed in web3 as a result of blockchain technology.”
Meta4 was founded on the belief that NFTs are an example of a more intelligent internet, or Web3. Web3 represents how technologies have matured the web as we know it from being a place of information and connection into decentralized networks with powerful capabilities. One of, if not the most impressive outputs of this change is the shift to co-creation. This means creators of content have a direct relationship with consumers of that content and earn benefits of their content directly, with immediacy and regardless of future ownership of that content, while consumers enjoy an expanded relationship of value with the content creator.
“NFTs demonstrate a shift in the flow of value directly to the creator at a scale that has never been seen before” said Nabyl Charania of Met4 Capital. “On top of that, NFTs further enable end-users to become investor-partners aligned with creators. This is the internet evolution that we have been eagerly awaiting with NFTs marking the dawn of web 3.0 and the immersive internet.”