Pass It Down, a digital storytelling company based in Baton Rouge, is creating the first online NFT marketplace for museums, archives and other cultural institutions.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are one-of-a-kind digital items that can be bought, sold and traded online. NFTs can include pieces of digital art, videos or audio clips. The marketplace, called Iconic Moments, will allow anyone to purchase a variety of NFTs, including photos, videos and radio clips, from these institutions. However, through Iconic Moments, cultural organizations will retain original pieces, and limited-edition NFTs generated from the original piece will be sold.
Some items for purchase on Iconic Moments will include physical components such as a digital icon of a museum that comes with a 2022 annual pass to the actual museum, says Chris Cummings, Pass It Down founder (and one of 225‘s 2021 People to Watch).
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Because of COVID-19, Cummings knew some organizations were in deep need of help. These types of institutions depend on in-person ticket sales, events and fundraising galas, he says, but when Pass It Down looked at NFTs, it saw a new way to increase digital engagement and generate revenue.
Every time an NFT is resold, Cummings says, the institution that originally sold it receives a portion of the profit, generating long-term revenue.
Iconic Moments has commitments from institutions worldwide, including sports organizations and brand museums, Cummings says, giving it access to more than 1 million moments of content.
One of those is the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, which owns content from the last 100 years of TV and radio. Iconic Moments is also looking to work with several institutions in Baton Rouge.
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For each individual NFT to be sold, Iconic Moments’ team will work with the cultural institution selling it to come up with the right price.
Pass It Down raised nearly $2 million from investors including VentureSouth, Cultivation Capital, Red Stick Angels and Acadian Capital Ventures to create Iconic Moments, which is scheduled to launch at the end of this year.
This story originally appeared in a Sept. 21 edition of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.