To Thalía, this excites her. And it is not that the interest has arisen recently. The singer confesses that she is fascinated by computers, getting under desks and making connections: "I am the one who fixes everything technical here at home," she says, in an interview for Forbes Mexico.
The excitement doesn't stop between the cables. She is very interested in topics such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies and NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens). "I saw it with my 10-year-old son. He said to me: 'Mom, why are you so obsessed with this whole NFT thing? I just don't understand.' Because, son, we are seeing something unique in the history of this planet. It is the first time that one world is separating from the other to be independent. This is something where you will be able to directly access your audience", she comments, excitedly.
A couple of months ago, Thalía started organizing a series of informative forums on new technologies, especially NFTs and cryptocurrencies, with the aim of getting closer to experts and, first, to understand for herself what they are about and what their usefulness is; and, second, to motivate more and more people to be interested in these trends. The forums are held in Twitter Spaces, a tool that allows live audio conversations.
"I just went in to listen. I made spectacular connections with this community, which is the web3 NFT community in Spanish, and in Spanglish," she says. Web3, according to a definition by the web3.foundation, refers to a decentralized and fair internet, where users control their own data, identity and destiny.
Another attribute of these spaces organized by Thalía is that language is not a problem. The talks with the experts are held in English, Spanish or Spanglish, explains the singer, laughing. "I liked being that platform where we could speak English or Spanish. Whatever comes, because I think that's where you learn, you take away your fear. And if you are an artist, and if you like communication or you like the business world, and suddenly you are limited by language, because everything is in English in the world of NFTs... No, wait for me! I can give you that bridge, that approach," she says.
The artist has been very surprised at the openness of the experts to talk about these issues. And it is that, she explains, on web2 (which refers to sites that allow collaboration and interaction) the positions are usually more individualistic and it is more difficult for new projects to be discussed and discussed for fear that they may be copied. "This is a change, so that you take from here what works for you and develop it for what you want to be. So, everything is help. It is an incredible thing that I had not experienced in my career years. It is a constant support. You ask something and they answer you, and you have a doubt, and they guide you. It's very interesting," she says.
This information space has been very useful for creators interested in exchanging their knowledge; also to publicize the way in which these new technologies have allowed them to get closer to the public and even obtain profits faster for their creations.
And it is that these non-fungible tokens allow artists to sell a kind of digital certificate of authenticity (based on blockchain) for each of their works. And among the benefits stand out the transaction, which is totally digital; the smaller number of intermediaries between the artists and their public; the code of the work, which contains historical information about its owners and sale amounts, and gives the buyer certainty of having an original work.
Thalía's contact with new technologies has gone beyond the informative: "What brought me to the world of NFTs was Clone X, because I was passionate, I fell in love with the design of NFTs, and... being a fan of him [...] So, imagine, for me, it was like I want my Clone X", he says, with great enthusiasm.
Clone X is an avatar maker on NFT, hosted on the OpenSea marketplace. Another of the first NFTs that the also actress acquired was one from the Mexican Pablo Stanley, who has a collection of robotic characters (in OpenSea, it is found as Robotos Official NFT).
NFTs are purchased with cryptocurrencies. However, the use of these assets continues to generate controversy. In June of last year, Banco de México, SHCP and CNBV released a joint statement warning of the risks of using virtual assets, such as the fact that they do not constitute legal tender in Mexico.
"These [virtual assets] have no intrinsic value and their technological characteristics may have various future uses that may determine their value," the document states. According to the Finder Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, published in January 2022, Mexico ranks 14th among the 27 countries included in the study. The cryptocurrency adoption rate is 15.2% (world average is 15.5%). Another finding of the study is that, worldwide, possession increased from 11.2% in October 2021, to 15.5% in December of that same year.
"What I am doing is simply this connection with all the people who tune in, but I am not giving, at any time, any financial advice. It is an open platform where people can talk, can learn [...] What is constant is: Never spend more than you have. Never commit any type of money that could put your family, your lifestyle, at risk [...] If you are thinking of buying a bag, some shoes, well, instead of buying them, maybe take that risk. Open a little wallet [according to the specialized media Xataka.com, wallets are the tool with which users store and manage their cryptocurrencies] and begin to understand how this moves", she says.
Thalía will continue with this project, especially on Mondays and Fridays, although coffee times have been organized during the week. This, she commented, has the objective of generating a social impact, especially in the Hispanic community and offering more and more information about technologies that are practically transformed on a daily basis.
"Last week something very interesting happened, because several super powerful women were presented in this space. And it occurs to me: Well, let's see, why don't we do something? I feel like entering this market [of NFTs...] I have offers to "take out your collection" [...] I want to do it well and calmly; and, if I do it hand in hand with you, the better. And there was an idea that I said: Well, let's see, I feel like making a call to create together a collection of NFT representing Hispanic women [...] that we can all support each other, that we can all have that project among us, and thus be able to disperse it. So, I think that is going to be incredible and there are a thousand things", says the Mexican artist.
Source: Forbes Mexico
