What is the Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT?

In 2023, it has become quite common for high-end luxury brands to issue NFTs independently or jointly with other brands. Luxury fashion powerhouses like Gucci and Louis Vuitton were among the early adopters in this space, followed by everyday consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, and Procter & Gamble.

Whenever prominent brands from traditional industries venture into the Web3 space, their actions inevitably create a profound impact both within and beyond the crypto community. These collaborations and NFT issuance indicate that Web3 is becoming increasingly accepted by the general public.

Among the numerous traditional brands that have issued NFTs, there is a particular category that holds a particular appeal to their followers, which is the car brand, especially those luxury car manufacturers. After all, cars themselves are designed to provide users with pleasure and enjoyment, making them a perfect fit for collectible NFTs.

In 2022, globally renowned car brands like McLaren and Chevrolet released NFTs featuring their high-end vehicles, using it as a strategic approach for brand promotion and marketing.

Now, another esteemed car brand is joining the NFT movement - the world’s famous hypercar maker, Bugatti.

What is the Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT?

The luxury car brand Bugatti recently made an announcement on social media about the upcoming launch of a limited-edition Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT, which will be hosted on the Bitcoin blockchain. The collection will also include corresponding physical objects.

The minting of this NFT collection is scheduled to take place around May 4, 2023, with a limited edition of 111 pieces. Each piece will come with a physical egg artwork, with the first 100 eggs being priced at $20,000 - $50,000 and the remaining 10 starting at $200,000.

However, unlike previous NFTs issued by other car brands, the Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT did not use cars as the theme, but instead presented egg-shaped artwork to the public.

The 10 precious editions of the new Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT are referred to as the Royale Edition. Like other NFTs in the collection, it will be produced both as physical object and NFT artwork.

(Source: twitter.com)

The egg of the precious edition is meticulously made from carbon fiber, giving the egg shape a perfectly symmetrical and visually pleasing appearance. This impeccably designed artwork is encased within a sterling silver diamond weave lattice, adorned with “Dancing Elephant” motifs.

It is placed on a curved pedestal, delivering a strong artistic sense. It appears so naturally formed that it seems almost organic. Even when watching the digital representation of the NFT, one cannot help but admire Bugatti’s mastery in the artistic creation of its own brand image.

(Source: twitter.com)

Each Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT features a Dancing Elephant pattern on its surface, which is recreated from an original sculpture by the brand’s founder, Rembrandt Bugatti. This work of art adorned the bonnet of the Bugatti Type 41 Royale.

To recreate this sculpture, the silversmiths visited the home of Bugatti in France and conducted precise 3D scanning of the bonnet mascot of one of the few remaining Type 41 Royale cars.

After unremitting efforts, Bugatti has finally presented to the world this unique and soon-to-be-released NFT artwork.

Motivation Behind the Issuance

Whenever a brand from a non-Web3 industry creates or releases NFTs, it invariably sparks heated discussions. A prime example is Starbucks Odyssey, launched by Starbucks last year. This groundbreaking initiative revolves around NFTs and has brought new benefits and experiences to Starbucks customers. By focusing on lowering the barriers for non-Web3 users to engage with NFTs, Starbucks developed an NFT purchasing application that accepts credit and debit cards, making it easier for users to interact with Web3. Notably, Starbucks chose the Polygon public chain to issue its NFTs.

Starbucks Odyssey generated a buzz among the crypto community, with many considering it a landmark event for traditional brands venturing into the Web3 space. Prior to this, numerous brands had already embraced the trend. They viewed NFTs as a new tool for promoting their brand IPs and engaged in various brand promotion and commercial activities.

The upcoming release of Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT aligns with the motivation of these previous NFT collections. It is a brand marketing approach in the Web3 domain, aiming to provide hotspot issues to facilitate its subsequent development by combining NFTs with traditional brands.

Expansion of BTC NFTs

One notable aspect of the Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT release that has drawn the attention of many users is that Bugatti chose to issue NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Recently, BTC NFTs have gained significant traction among crypto users, and the combination of the two has sparked a revival in the NFT market during Q1 2023, all thanks to the emergence of the Ordinals protocol.

The combination of BTC and NFTs has the potential to bring about a range of impacts and promote further expansion in the NFT market. With a large user base and community, BTC’s growing influence is expected to attract more BTC users to explore and invest in the NFT market, thereby expanding its overall size.

The introduction of BTC NFTs will enhance market liquidity, as BTC itself is one of the most prominent assets in terms of liquidity in the crypto market. Built on the Bitcoin blockchain network, BTC NFTs will use BTC as the medium for transactions and settlements. This is expected to facilitate smoother liquidity flow within the NFT market and make NFT trading and transfers more seamless.

The emergence of BTC NFTs is poised to significantly bolster the recognition and adoption of NFTs in the market. This can be attributed to the widespread market acceptance of BTC globally. The combination of BTC and NFTs is expected to attract a larger influx of investors and funds into the NFT market.

Moreover, apart from the anticipated changes within the crypto market, BTC NFTs are expected to drive more innovation and project breakthroughs. The distinctive features of the Bitcoin network itself enable fast transactions and settlements for NFTs, and could even potentially reshape the existing market dynamics that predominantly revolve around Ethereum-based NFT projects.

Nonetheless, it will take time to validate the performance and market expansion of BTC NFTs, given their recent introduction.

Representative Luxury Brand NFTs

Here, we would like to share some noteworthy examples of NFT collections issued by renowned traditional brands, primarily high-end luxury brands.

McLaren

In March 2022, the British luxury automaker McLaren reached a partnership with the metaverse infrastructure platform InfiniteWorld. It then established the digital laboratory MSO Lab (McLaren Special Operations Lab) and launched the Genesis Collection NFT on the Ethereum blockchain.

This collection is created based on its McLaren P1 and P1 GTR supercars and incorporates eight unique features such as body color, paint finish, and racing livery to generate 2,012 unique NFTs automatically. Each McLaren NFT was priced at 0.5 ETH. The Genesis Collection NFTs aimed to commemorate and celebrate the debut of the McLaren P1, the world’s first hybrid hypercar launched in 2012. The McLaren P1 has gained widespread popularity and continues to be celebrated as a pinnacle of automotive performance even a decade after its global release.

(Source: autoevolution.com)

Gucci

Gucci is one of the first luxury brands to venture into NFT issuance. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Gucci auctioned its first NFT digital artwork at Christie’s in May 2021, which eventually sold for $25,000. All proceeds were donated to the United Nations Children’s Fund USA to support globally equal access to COVID-19 vaccinations for children. In addition, Gucci teamed up with Superplastic, a digital collectibles creator, in February 2023, to launch the SuperGucci NFT series. The series consists of 250 NFTs and will be released in three parts. Each digital collectible holder will receive an exclusive ceramic sculpture handcrafted by Gucci’s ceramicists in Italy.

(Source: ledgerinsights.com)

Dolce & Gabbana

In August 2021, the Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana unveiled the Collezione Genesi NFT collection on the UNXD NFT marketplace. This collection, personally designed by the brand’s co-founders, was finally sold out for a total of $5.7 million.

The collection consisted of 9 pieces. Collectors of the 5 pieces of dress or costume will also receive the physical items. Additionally, they were granted privileges such as attending the fashion event and becoming members of the DGFamily NFT community. In early 2022, Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with the Polygon-based NFT marketplace UNXD to launch the DGFamily NFT community. This community offers exclusive benefits to users in both the physical world and the metaverse, including access to exclusive releases of digital wearables and physical products, as well as access to Dolce & Gabbana digital events.

(Source: journalduluxe.fr)

Conclusion

With the continuous development of the blockchain industry and the growing crypto market, the issuance of NFTs by traditional brands has become an emerging and innovative approach. By combining the intrinsic value of the brand with the uniqueness of digital assets, these brands are able to offer consumers and collectors an entirely new digital experience.

Furthermore, NFTs present an opportunity for brands to embrace fresh business models and diversify their revenue streams. The upcoming release of the Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT collection is poised to unlock new derivative markets such as secondary market transactions, IP licensing, and digital merchandise. This strategic move infuses the brands with renewed commercial vigor.

However, it is important to acknowledge that NFT projects themselves face challenges such as market volatility, uncertain regulatory policies, and the existence of fraudulent projects. Therefore, when brands in traditional industries venture into NFT issuance, they must exercise caution and navigate the prevailing issues within the market.

In summary, the Asprey Bugatti Egg NFT collection epitomizes the exploration of uncharted possibilities in the current NFT market. For Bugatti, this endeavor represents not only an attempt at the digital communication of their brand but also a journey of innovation and discovery.