LOS ANGELES, Jan. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VinFast, the global electric vehicle (EV) brand owned by Vingroup - the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam with a total capitalization of 34.9 billion USD from three publicly traded companies (as of Nov 3, 2021) - has partnered with AAG Ventures and Harmony to announce a world-first in the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of the EV reservation process. This is the first time NFTs have been utilized in this way for the automotive industry, highlighting how blockchain technology is being used in real-world use cases.
To accelerate the development process, VinFast partnered with AAG Ventures, a pioneering company in the metaverse space, to develop a decentralized application on the Harmonyblockchain. Thanks to the ultra-fast and ultra-economical Harmony blockchain, the interaction is seamless. It becomes part of the overall experience that customers can look forward to as Vingroup further explores more use cases within its ecosystem.
The NFT process
The NFT deployment works like: Customers who pay the reservation fee for their VinFast EV will receive a VinFirst NFT, a certificate on the blockchain using Harmony, a widely used cross-chain sharding protocol. This serves as a certificate of priority membership for super-early adopters that support the brand -whom VinFast calls "VinFirst" members. Following the VinFirst NFT, VinFast will airdrop various rewards and perks to its VinFirst members from time to time. The e - vouchers and NFTs will be transferable after April 5, 2022 and NFTs create an easier way to go on secondary marketplace for the customers.
Excitement in the blockchain community
VinFast's pioneering use of NFTs has already created excitement in the blockchain community. Commenters include the Co-Founders of AAG Ventures - Nelly Sutjiadi and Jack Vinijtrongjit, NFT Collector Ben Yu, Co-Founder & CTO of Harmony Rongjian Lan, and popular YouTuber Nas Daily.
"Deploying the VinFast NFTs that will use a smart contract to manage the EV car reservation and planting of a physical tree that will offset carbon emissions is a wonderful showcase of the use of blockchain," said Nelly Sutjiadi, Co-Founder of AAG Ventures and Harmony Advisor & Validator. "True metaverse in action with real-world benefit - very cool and exciting!"
"We are super excited to see VinFast, the global EV brand, launch the world's first NFTs for EV reservations on Harmony," said Rongjian Lan, Co-Founder & CTO of Harmony. "This collaboration signifies the growing real-world adoption of blockchain technology and NFTs, which reduces friction and provides innovative approaches to benefit customers in the traditional business process. Harmony welcomes more traditional businesses with a forward-looking mindset to embrace blockchain technology and improve business process with our scalable & secure blockchain infrastructure."
"By helping enable this collaboration with VinFast and Harmony, we are bridging both the digital and physical world," said AAG Ventures Co-Founder Jack Vinijtrongjit. "By owning a VinFirst NFT, you are not just an early adopter of the new VinFast EV; you also become a citizen of the Vingroup metaverse where you can enjoy the future benefits that the company will provide. That, to me, is an example of where the blockchain and NFT technology will become real - and transformative - to most people." Vinijtrongjit added.
According to NFT Collector, Ben Yu, "I've learned firsthand that VinFast isn't just a nice name - they are one of the fastest moving companies I've ever had the pleasure of working with, and seeing them develop and launch the first-ever automobile OEM proof of membership NFT project in record time has really shown me that these are the right people to bet on. I'll be reserving my VinFast EV, and hope you will join me."
Judging from Vingroup's previous endeavors in frontier technologies, the application of NFTs for EV reservations is not just a one-off campaign, it is the first step in its long-term vision for blockchain applications, not only with NFTs or assets but also other advanced applications based on blockchain technology. By using this technology in the automotive sector, VinFast will become the first EV manufacturer in the world to adopt blockchain to create convenience in customers' daily lives.
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