Hyundai is the latest automaker to dip a toe into the strange world of NFTs. What is an NFT? According to Wikipedia, it's "a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger, that can be sold and traded." In short, it's some measure of digital content that comes with a unique identifier, meaning it can't be copied. In theory, anyway. For some, that makes it valuable. For others, not so much.
We'll leave the NFT debate for all you readers to hash out in the comments. For now, what you need to know is that Hyundai is doing, um, something with an NFT of its own. Or actually, it appears to be multiple NFTs, as the automaker is launching social media channels on Twitter and Discord devoted solely to NFTs. The above video serves as an announcement for the launch of these channels, and to mark the occasion, Hyundai will issue 30 Hyundai X Meta Kongz NFTs on April 20. That leads us to another question: what in the blue hell is a Hyundai X Meta Kongz NFT?
Presumably, that's what the video at the top of this article previews. We come to that conclusion for a few reasons, with the main one being the video is called Hyundai X Meta Kongz NFT Project. The 54-second clip opens with an undeniable callback to the classic film King Kong, mixed with eight-bit graphics depicting the OG Donkey Kong video game. Okay, that's where Kongz comes from, but from there, things just get weird.
The gorilla (who we assume is called Kongz) morphs from eight-bit to modern-day realism, at which point a classic Hyundai Pony hatchback falls from the sky. It's probably worth mentioning that the environment for all of this looks like a cross between Tron and Frozen, and when it can't get weirder, the car launches into space with a callback to E.T. before landing on the moon. The video ends with some strange crystal-looking thing on the car's windshield, with the video stating "shooting star NFT, dropping soon." Hey, we told you it was weird.
So, what exactly is the NFT here? That's apparently part of the mystery. It's also a mystery as to how you get it, as Hyundai only references its new NFT social channels. And regarding the cost, that's also a mystery. But apparently, there will be 30 of them on April 20.
Friends, welcome to the wacky world of NFTs. Judging by Hyundai's effort here, this won't be the only NFT coming from the brand. It's also not the first NFT we've seen from a major automaker. Will other manufacturers also dive into this new digital realm? Only time will tell.
