NFT Interview with Ben Tan (Prometheus Project)
Last night, Ben (@heybentan) came on my show to share about his latest NFT project – Prometheus. Now before we get started, I just want to mention that this is not sponsored in any way. In fact, Ben told me that he didn’t want to market it too much as he didn’t want to attract the wrong crowd (aka flippers) to the project. (I guess he wants HODLers)
If you missed it, here is the full interview.
Part 1: https://youtu.be/sF9u5K49qjc Part 2: https://youtu.be/Myn-mWceAdc
Below are my key takeaways from the interview with Ben.
Current state of NFT – Still at its infancy, as most people are just experimenting with the space and most of the attention is on Profile Picture (Avatar) NFT. And the Avatar NFT is a start but it has to evolve to gain mainstream adoption. Drawing experience from Bitcoin, it only truly took off when mainstream institution started to focus on it.
Danger in NFT – Many of the current NFT projects are playing the “greater fool” game whereby everyone is in the project in hope that someone else will pay a higher price for it in the future. However, the project itself doesn’t seem to have any value at all. E.g. I am buying an Avatar NFT which has no utility at all, and the only reason I am buying it is to sell to a “greater fool”. Now, let me caveat that most investments are “greater fool” – like. Just like how I am investing in Bitcoin because I believe it will be valued higher in the future by others. However, the fine difference is that a real investment has widespread recognition of value such as Bitcoin, Gold or shares of a large corporation. That is why most Avatar NFT are lacking. They are closer to a tulip mania that can burst easily as there is no widespread adoption.
Don’t blindly follow the Whales – Ben mentioned that in some NFT circles, even the whales (who are supposedly more knowledgeable in NFT), doesn’t seem to know what they are doing too. They simply have more disposable funds and they can buy NFT at 10-20ETH for fun. So while the sum looks huge to you, it is actually peanuts to them. The whales will always buy in first so it is hard for them to lose, but those who invest after them, they will pay a much higher price. So when the price dropped, the whales will still remain profitable when the rest are losing.
Intangible Benefit of Some NFT – Sometimes the intangible benefit can outweigh the tangibles. I strongly recognise the power of a good network. It is often the people that you know who will bring you to the next level. Therefore, some NFT like Cyberkongz, function like a membership club. Only holders of the specific NFT will be admitted into the club. If the NFT can get you connected with the right people, the NFT could be worth a lot. For example, in Singapore there is a very exclusive country club called Tanglin Club. One membership is worth hundreds of thousands and it has a rumoured waitlist of 3 years. Why is it so highly sought after? Apparently, many society elites are also members of the club.
Why Prometheus? – To bring the mainstream investors to NFT, Ben mentioned that it is almost impossible to achieve with the current form of NFT. He thought of making it easier for a layman to understand and Prometheus was born. Prometheus is a platform that brings conventional valuable assets such as Whisky or Wine, whose value is already widely recognised, and match it with the emerging space of NFT. In this case, the NFT represents a partial ownership of the item. Example, a whisky collection worth $1m could be split into 1m NFT tokens, so each NFT represent 1 out of 1m ownership and can be bought or sold in the market. (There are some concerns here about this kind of NFT being seen as a security but Ben mentioned they have consulted their legal for advise on it).
Achieve Mass Adoption – By linking conventional valuable assets with NFT, it will be easier for mass market investors to understand this new form of investment at their own terms and logic. Once mass market enters into real asset-backed NFT and learn more about NFT in general, it will become easier for them to eventually accept the more “exotic” form of NFTs as investment.
Moving beyond JPEG – If the NFT space continues down the path of just Avatar NFT, the NFT space is likely to be more and more toxic as people are just here to speculate and flip the NFT for a quick buck. It will not advance the NFT space to its fullest potential. In the future, Ben foresee this space permeating the mass market where most investors can understand and participate. In order for that to happen, it has to be more than just a “pump and dump” NFT space.
What is Prometheus? It is a platform where investors can invest in NFT tokens of rare, investment grade items (real assets). In a way, it can be viewed as a membership club whereby members get priority access to these NFTs before it is opened to the public. Ben revealed that their first NFT tokens under Prometheus will be for ultra rare whiskies. It is also a platform for like-minded individual to cross share ideas and grow as a community. The most valuable part is the network of who’s who that you can network with. This is to allow the mass market access to assets that were previously only available to the UHNW.
Prometheus Team. There are 3 key players in the NFT team, including @heybentan and @iamdonn, and they have engaged legal and tech people to build this project. As this project may venture into Securities so it definitely need an expert to take a closer look.
Why Whisky? It is one of the best performing luxury asset class. It is widely recognised. Ultra rare whisky are even sold on luxury auction house like Christie’s and Sotheby. Whisky investment belongs to a very elite circle and it was by chance that Ben knew his partner when playing poker.
Price Stability of Whisky. Ben’s business partner mentioned that rare whisky is his preferred investment because of the price stability with low volatility. Also the buyers of rare whisky are often the UHNW who are willing to pay big sums hence supporting the prices.
How to achieve Win-win. I posted a question to Ben, “What’s in it for his whisky partner?”. He shared that his partner’s long term vision is to be an independent bottler. So by opening up his collection and gaining more brand awareness, it will help him in his journey to become an independent bottler. If his whisky collection remains only for the elite UHNW then he will never be able to gain public brand awareness. However, through Prometheus and conducting mass education on this investment class, it will help in public awareness of him and his brand when he wants to sell his own brand of whisky. I can’t wait to meet him in person!
Ownership is Crucial to Success. I think a crucial part of this project will be ensuring the NFT’s validity as a proof of ownership. Investors need to have assurance that their NFT does confer true ownership. Ben mentioned 2 components – 24/7 livestream camera to proof existence and cryptographic stamping of the real asset that will link to the NFT. Personally I believe more work will be done in this area.
Non-Gold Pass Holder. Ben also shared that future NFT on Prometheus will be also be launched to the public. However, the Prometheus Gold Pass Holder will enjoy the first right of refusal before it is released to the public. In short, one Gold Pass holder can mint 3 NFT for each project.
Personal Reflections: Thus far, the most valuable part of the Prometheus project is the community chat where experienced NFT investors share openly their views and opinions and that really helped to accelerate my learning in NFT. Will this project succeed? I think it will depend on the actual launch of the upcoming projects. It is going to be massive!
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. I bought a Prometheus Gold Pass to support a friend and to level up my NFT game. I am 100% alright if this investment doesn’t turn out profitable. The knowledge that I gleaned from this experience is well-worth the mint price. So everyone should do their own due diligence.
How to get a Prometheus pass?
The secret mint page is:
http://theprometheusproject.io/secretmintonly
OR – you can pick it up off Opensea collection page if you prefer too:
https://opensea.io/collection/theprometheusproject
