It is easy to mistrust the NFT market these days. When you see projects that offer no utility — or promise a ton of future utility but are unable to deliver — it is only natural to lose faith in the entire NFT space and write it off as just another fad. One cannot help but wonder how things might be different if the norm was instead for NFTs to offer real-world value from Day One.
There is one recently-announced NFT, that offers 100% utility and 0% of the bullshit that sometimes accompanies widely-heralded launches. The name of the project is Metaclub, and it comes from Chile, the most developed country in South America. Alfonso Ovalle (cryptochil.eth in the NFT space) was studying a Masters of Finance at Cambridge University in the UK when he came up with the idea of a total utility NFT — from the day a tokenholder mints the token, they become a member of an exclusive membership club that grants multiple exclusive benefits, discounts, and opportunities on a local basis. After accelerating Metaclub at Cambridge’s Entrepreneurship Center, Alfonso and his team went hunting for the best real-world benefits to offer future members.
In terms of real-world benefits, the NFT creators have negotiated discounts of over 25% or exclusive gifts for tokenholders from leading Chilean and international brands, including some of the best-known hotel, wine, and fashion brands in the country. According to a spokesman for the project, the final collection of brands — together with the benefits to be offered by each one — will be revealed on social media in the days preceding the pre-sale.
What makes this project even more compelling is that the Chilean version of the NFT will act as a genesis project, and beta version for a worldwide members club. Similar to Soho House, Metaclub will be able to offer members attractive, location-specific benefits in major cities around the world. Holders of this genesis token will be allowed to access benefits not only in Chile, but in all other cities where Metaclub launches.
The project is bolstered by a concrete roadmap. Following the launch in Chile, the brand will launch in a new city every 5 to 6 months, with talks already underway with potential local partners in Miami, London, Barcelona, and Istanbul. And since the purchase of a genesis token will secure a spot in all other cities, there is potential for true utility that spans geographies to cater to the global citizens of today. That means worldwide utility!
Even though there is still a long way to go to establish utility tokens as the main usage of NFTs, one thing is clear: Metaclub makes a compelling case for IRL utility tokens as the next big thing in the NFT space. Look out for Metaclub’s mint in mid-November!
