Crypto Pop Art Guild (CPAG) Aims to Help Filipino Artists Break into NFT Art Community

Crypto Pop Art Guild, more commonly known as CPAG, is a group created by NFT artist and Yield Guild Games’ Country Manager, Luis Buenaventura in the hopes of helping underprivileged Filipino artists break into the NFT market. Buenaventura’s guild has art workshops to help local artists hone their skills and crafts, as well as to connect them with various opportunities to flourish and take part in the booming NFT market.

Buenaventura states, “The idea is you can open up opportunities to them that have nothing to do with geography or background,” and mentions that there are some rural Filipino artists already earning up to $400 (P20,000) monthly from their NFT art. NFT art allows artists to produce digitalized copies of their artwork, and capitalizes on it being “one of a kind”. Using blockchain technology, these NFT artworks can then be tracked and purchased online. Buenaventura’s work has previously been showcased in the world’s first NFT art collection hosted on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.

Satoshi Citadel Industries Co-founder and Chief Community Officer Miguel Cuneta also states that apart from underprivileged Filipino artists, even kids could be benefitting from NFTs. He recalls the case of Sevi Agragado, a 9-year-old diagnosed with autism who was able to earn enough profit from his NFT artwork to pay for his therapy. “Today he is actually one of the very successful and well-known NFT artists out of the Philippines and his work has been featured in NFT Art shows in New York, Amsterdam. All of the proceeds from his artwork pay for his therapy,” Cuneta states.

Meanwhile, UnionBank and UBX are now working to provide banking services for NFT artists. “Imagine somebody in the province creating their own NFT and selling it overseas. That is phenomenal,” UBX Chief Information and Technology Officer Henry Aguda says.

With the rise of the NFT market, panelists from the Management Association of the Philippines still remind people of the possible risks with NFT art, albeit it being “practically foolproof”. Fraudsters might convince artists to hand over their NFT artwork via social engineering or by going for their passwords and codes, hence the general reminders to those engaging in NFTs to still practice cyber hygiene.

Source: ABS CBN News