If you’ve been keeping an eye on online news in the recent few months, you’ll have seen plenty of talk on the ‘Metaverse’, NFTs and a shift to digital spaces. One British motorcycle startup is hoping to jump on the trend - Neo, with the One motorcycle.
It’s a very Matrix name for this electric motorcycle, and with some extremely optimistic numbers flying around on the website - a top speed of 120 mph, 120 ft-lb of torque, 30-minute rapid-charge time and 200-mile range - there’s something a bit more interesting (to some) going on.
The world of NFT’s. If you’re not sure about what an NFT is, don’t worry because you’re in the majority. To give a quick rundown, an NFT is a ‘Non-Fungible Token’, a form of data stored on a digital ledger certifying that a digital asset is unique and can therefore the ‘original’ can be owned.
Much like how there is only one Mona Lisa, but loads of photos and print-outs of it. There is an owner of the Mona Lisa, but everyone can still ‘access it’. Confused? Yep. The NFT market is thought to be worth in the region of $40 billion, so there’s a lot of money here.
And that’s what Neo is attempting to tap into. Promising a digital collectable (that they'll print out for you, if you want) alongside the physical 1-of-250, Neo is also looking to create a Discord community and various ‘tiers’ to ‘join the movement’.
To the untrained eye it looks like a bubble waiting to burst, and a lot of glitz and glam to re-hash an existing concept - owners clubs exist, and you once upon a time would get things for being in one. Maybe access to a Facebook group, access to events (ride outs and meets), perhaps even a badge.
This is what is often mentioned as a purpose for NFTs, that they can serve as a sort of 'membership token' for access to exclusive clubs and groups. A means of providing value to something that otherwise could be worth just as much as my childhood Pokemon cards at the back of the drawer.
Motorcycle brand Neo hoping to jump in to the NFT market
On their dedicated NFT page, Neo has created a ‘Race Director - Holographic 1 of 1’ tier, a ‘Crew Chief - Rainbow 1 of 5’ tier, and on… you have to admire the idea, and it could well be something more established manufacturers consider in the future.
After all, it’s a means of generating interest in a modern crowd, it doesn’t cost much/anything to Neo to create all of this, and if it goes well, they could make an NFT worth millions. That’s right, some NFT pieces sell upwards of $5 million, the highest recorded NFT piece was sold at $91.8 million (a piece called ‘The Merge’).
Maybe we should make a Visordown NFT, Discord chat and investment opportunities… joking. Half joking.
