John: Could you tell me a little about yourself, your background and how you got into the web3 space?
Grant: I came into the web3 space from the utilities side. In 2020, I was deeply immersed in digital marketing on web2 and found A program It was about analyzing how to tokenize advertising investment and prevent advertising fraud. That led me down a rabbit hole, never to return.
I switched to web3 full time a few years ago and landed some amazing jobs, including CMO for Cointash, a popular crypto exchange here in Australia. And yeah, I just haven't gone back, I love space.
In a nutshell, what are Metaverse Merchants?
Metaverse Merchants is a platform that allows people to make ultra-premium whiskey and influence how it is created before it is released.
We have been very lucky to collaborate with a company specializing in artisanal Irish whiskey, through which we have acquired a tanker truck full of single malt Irish whiskey. These guys hold multiple world records for the most expensive bottle of whiskey. Forbes voted one of its bottles the best whiskey on the market in 2023, and that is the liquid we have for this project, which owners will be able to customize however they want.
The idea is to recruit the next generation of whiskey lovers. The distillery is considered a disruptor in the space and they were eager to get it off the ground. It's been an incredible journey from there.
When we think about web3 projects and alcohol, BlockBar comes to mind. How are you different from those guys? What makes Metaverse Merchants unique?
BlockBar is brilliant for existing real-world assets. They tokenize pre-existing whiskey bottles. We have created a virtual distillery through an nft with dynamic features that allow you to influence a whiskey in production. This allows you to blend and finish whiskeys in different casks, shape your own recipe and then take it to market, even down to bottle and label options.
Whiskey lovers unite!
Experience how you can leverage golden liquidity.
Truly liquid, truly golden.
We're taking nft utility to the next level!
This is how you will benefit from us… … pic.twitter.com/FZMjlKLzsl
– Metaverse Merchants (@MetaVsMerchants) January 4, 2024
Wow, that's very interesting! What team have you assembled to help build this?
Going back to the project's origins, Metaverse Merchants emerged while seeking personal investments.
Unfortunately, I lost my mother last year and had some funds for my youngest daughters that I had to lock up for 15 years. A barrel investment seemed like a great choice, so I started researching the market. I spoke with a gentleman in the industry and he started talking about NFTs and what his boss wanted to do in this space. I told him I would put him in touch with the wider DMCG team, and it all grew from there.
We spoke to the Whiskey & Wealth team in Australia, as well as its founders in Ireland. They were very interested in the vision of the project. It turns out that one of the founders of The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. is an nft holder; They are already known as disruptors in the whiskey business and were interested in using nft technology to bring in the next generation of whiskey lovers, and yes, it's been an incredible journey from there.
Let's talk about the technology behind NFTs. He mentioned the possibility of finishing his whiskeys in different casks and different bottling and labeling opportunities. How do your NFTs influence that process?
We looked for a long time for a solution for the utility we wanted to create. We couldn't find it, so we partnered with the One Mint platform to build it.
Each of our NFTs will have a variety of dynamic and tradable features. These traits will influence the type of barrel your whiskey will age in, how long it will age, the blend, the bottle, and more to customize your whiskey however you want. Your imagination is the limit.
These traits are decisions in the whiskey creation process and depend entirely on the owner. If you wanted to, you could release a cask-strength single malt whiskey, no problem. It is usually one of the best sellers on the market.
Do you think the concept of combining (pun intended) real-world assets with NFTs will be an area of web3 that grows this year? How do you think the space will progress?
I think it's a logical progression.
One of the first discussions we had was how to tokenize the entire supply chain and demonstrate that the best quality ingredients are being incorporated into the puree. Everyone claims to have the purest water and the most organic wheat, but it is really difficult to prove this and link it to the batches in production.
Blockchain is a perfect solution for that, so I can only see it continuing to progress.
How deep are these tokenization ties with Metaverse merchants?
At this stage, all of that is up for discussion. The traditional Irish whiskey industry is very traditional. Much more credit to Jay's team at the distillery – they are truly revolutionizing the space and Metaverse Merchants is the result of his desire to be one of the first movers.
Metaverse Merchants is a pioneering company that combines the rich heritage of premium whiskey with the innovative world of dynamic NFTs.
Our vision brings to life a unique platform where whiskey enthusiasts and nft collectors converge to experience the art of whiskey making in a… pic.twitter.com/971dSuxsX0
– Metaverse Merchants (@MetaVsMerchants) January 14, 2024
Let's move on to how the community can get involved. What is the entry point to Metaverse Merchants?
It's moving very fast. We are considering holding our pre-mint on January 23rd, just a week away. From there, with a little luck, the public mint will be held on January 30.
We have chosen Polygon for NFTs. This is because some of the dynamic traits will evolve over time, and those constant updates would end up being a bit tiring for ethereum.
We're talking about pricing with the community and we want to make sure we get to that point. We will do a modified Dutch auction. The mint price could be a little higher than usual, simply because the real-world assets behind the NFTs are a little more expensive than what NFTs are currently driving the market.
Immediately, there will be value for those involved. Through our modified Dutch auction structure, it doesn't matter when people enter. Wherever that particular volume accumulates, that will be the price everyone will pay. We're trying to keep it very right there.
What will be the maximum currency of these NFTs?
We have 20,000 liters of exceptional top-quality spirits. Each nft gives its owner the right to customize a number of releases of those 20,000 liters. If the Dutch auction results in a high price, each holder will end up with a considerable amount of liquid. If the price goes down, the allocation will be spread less across a larger community.
We want to have a big community to ensure there's a lot of interaction and passionate people involved, but we want to keep it pretty exclusive at the same time. This is the first time anyone outside of Craft Irish Whiskey Group has controlled this type of volume of that liquid blend.
After your mint, what's next? What period can we expect between the mint date and the delivery of the bottles to customers?
It is entirely up to the nft holder when they decide to release their liquid. One of the biggest challenges we've had with Metaverse Merchants is designing a system so that if a holder wants to age their whiskey for 30 years, we can accommodate it.
One of the most notable aged craft Irish whiskeys managed to sell for $60,000 on the market. We are preparing to go this far for just one bottle.
What role does our technology play in improving the value of rare spirits?
Here is the answer … pic.twitter.com/U5wxwdts3v
– Metaverse Merchants (@MetaVsMerchants) January 5, 2024
What does Metaverse Merchants offer to both traditional whiskey collectors and web3 fans?
For a whiskey collector, this will be the first time you will be able to directly manipulate the whiskey blend that goes into the bottle. Our collectors will know that its distillation has been supervised by Jay himself, who has produced these world record-holding whiskeys.
For web3 fans, since each holder is likely to tweak their own mix of features, the rarity of their nft should be even higher. They will create different whiskeys from your decisions, whether over 3 years or 30 years.
The bottles that come out of this should be of very low quality and great rarity. And because of the nature of the liquid, if they end up on a marketplace like BlockBar, you'll see some records being set.
What else do you have planned for Metaverse traders through 2024?
We have introduced gamification to our features marketplace. We have come up with a set of guilds that will educate people about the blending process and bottling options to encourage community interaction, guided by people truly knowledgeable in the industry. Basically, holders will be going on an education journey on how to improve the value of their holdings as we move forward.
Naturally, there will be some real-life in-person tasting events. There is one intended for the 6 year mark. That seems a little far off, but we have a roadmap with some other key releases, and Craft Irish Whiskey is already proposing a special collaboration with holders. They're thinking about doing something pretty special with the project.
In a broader sense, how do you think the web3 space will progress in 2024?
Oh look, I certainly don't have full confidence in my crystal ball!
I'm really optimistic. I see that everything advances, becomes stronger, goes further. The short term is not really my interest. I'm looking at that 30 year period.
For me, this is where I've changed my entire career. I will get more and more involved in the web3 space.
Let's redefine weirdness. #NFTDROPS pic.twitter.com/An65qRKTdh
– Metaverse Merchants (@MetaVsMerchants) August 23, 2023
Do you think we'll see more projects that have solid long-term plans, like Metaverse Merchants?
Actually I don't. I think the space is evolving so rapidly right now that it's really difficult to even understand what capabilities will exist a year or two from now. While we're doing something really innovative right now, when 30 years go by, I'm sure there will be some people who will curse me for having a system like that.
It will be an antique in its own right, but look, antiques are collectibles too. And, as a first of its kind, it will hopefully influence others to have longer-term plans.
One of the factors we considered with Metaverse Merchants was that we wanted to see NFTs that maintain their value over a longer period of time and were trying to understand how we could achieve that. By finding a collectible piece that pairs so well with technology, I think we've achieved it.
Is there anything you want to add? Where should people go to stay in touch with all things Metaverse traders?
Follow us on Twitter and visit our One Mint page to get whitelisted. If you really want to get involved, we highly recommend joining our Discord – there's a great community forming there with a lot of interaction and we'll be able to answer any of your questions.
I'm incredibly excited to be able to bring this to market. I love being at the forefront, leading a project that will make a real difference to what is happening in the world. I can't wait to see what people actually produce from this. It's going to be amazing.
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