Facepalm: Keanu Reeves, who once laughed at the concept of NFTs, is getting into NFTs. The actor and his partner, Alexandra Grant, have become advisers to the Futureverse Foundation, a charitable foundation that aims to encourage artists to create non-fungible tokens for sale in the metaverse.
The Hollywood Reporter writes that the Futureverse Foundation, created in collaboration with Non-Fungible Labs and New Zealand-based NFT company Fluf World, will be funding artists whose works will be turned into NFTs. Its aim is to make the metaverse more accessible to people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Reeves, Grant, and Non-Fungible Labs co-founder Brooke Howard-Smith will help artists through the process of transferring traditional artwork into digital NFTs that will go on sale in the metaverse.
“This is the beginning, it’s a nascent moment for a technological shift where some people understand that they’re already in the metaverse, and some people don’t know what an NFT is,” said Grant.
Keanu Reeves doesn’t get the NFT hype either. Watch our full interview here: https://t.co/ea0NInhtBO pic.twitter.com/UuUNFMtfmf
— The Verge (@verge) December 11, 2021
While the Futureverse Foundation is a charitable organization, Reeves’ involvement does come as something of a surprise given his previous views on NFTs. In December, while giving an interview alongside Matrix star Carrie-Ann Moss with The Verge about the Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 demo, he laughed at the idea of NFT digital ownership when their contents can be “easily reproduced.” He also pleaded, “Can we just not have metaverse be invented by Facebook?” and said that a friend bought some for him some crypto a while ago, but he doesn’t do anything with it.
It seems Reeves is more open to the idea of NFTs these days. “I am honored to be joining Non-Fungible Labs’ efforts in cooperation with Alexandra Grant for the extraordinary program and opportunity of the Futureverse Foundation, in support of artists and creators globally,” the actor said in a statement.
The recent cryptocurrency crash has had an impact on the NFT market. According to The Block, the total monthly volume in May was down to $4 billion. That’s still a lot of money, of course, but it’s a 75% decline from the $16.5 billion markets saw back in January. eBay doesn’t seem worried, though, having just acquired NFT marketplace KnownOrigin.
