NFT news: Alfa Romeo certifies its Tonale SUV on Blockchain

The latest NFT news involves another Italian automaker, Alfa Romeo who at the unveiling of its latest SUV Tonale vehicle revealed that it links each vehicle to a Non-Fungible Token, certifying all its data on Blockchain. 

Meanwhile, the leader of NFT marketplaces, OpenSea, surpasses $20 billion in sales volume on its platform. 

NFT news: Alfa Romeo uses Non-Fungible Token and Blockchain for its Tonale SUV

The new Tonale SUV from Italian carmaker Alfa Romeo will be certified at the time of purchase and throughout its life on Blockchain, linked to an NFT. 

Reportedly, Alfa Romeo seems to have been the first in its industry to be serious about exploiting blockchain technology. 

Indeed, while each new Tonale SUV will have all its data recorded and stored on Blockchain, there will be an accompanying Tonale NFT, i.e. linked to each car. 

Francesco Calcara, head of global marketing and communications at Alfa Romeo, said:

“Digitalization is a key enabler of our metamorphosis. Tonale is the first car ever to keep a blockchain, non-fungible token. NFTs are based on the same distributed information logic that protects your Bitcoin. It records all data on the blockchain”.

Essentially, with the customer’s consent, the NFT will record the vehicle’s data, generating a certificate that can be used as a guarantee of the car’s overall condition, with a positive impact on its residual value. 

NFT news: over $20 billion in total sales for OpenSea

According to data from DappRadar, the leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has surpassed $20 billion in total sales. 

This is an explosive and ever-growing market for Non-Fungible Tokens, which has seen over 1.2 million traders take advantage of the platform since its launch in 2017. 

Looking at the data over the past month, it seems that another marketplace is also setting records. It is LooksRare, which recorded a total monthly volume of over $15 billion, compared to OpenSea’s $4 billion.

Despite the staggering monthly volume, the number of traders over the past 30 days is over 33,000 for LooksRare and over 554,000 for OpenSea. 

Last month, OpenSea acquired Dharma Labs and the company raised $300 million, pushing the company’s valuation to $13.3 billion.

Italian carmakers and Non-Fungible Token projects

Alfa Romeo joins other competing Bel Paese brands that have already entered the world of NFTs. 

First and foremost, Lamborghini, which this month launched Space Time Memory, its NFT project involving five photographs of a Lamborghini Ultimae taking off towards the stars and celebrating human exploration in space. 

The project was made possible thanks to Swiss artist Fabian Oefner and his team. From an initial bid of $100, Lamborghini’s five signed NFTs closed the auctions for figures ranging from $70,000 to $203,000. 

Following suit was Maranello’s famous carmaker, Ferrari, which said it was ready to enter the metaverse, stating that it was exploring the opportunities arising from web3 technologies, including Blockchain and NFTs. 

Specifically, Scuderia Ferrari has reportedly already signed a partnership with Swiss-based Velas Network AG for the creation of exclusive digital content. Velas is renowned as a global player in the Blockchain and NFT space.