UnionBank of the Philippines led by bankero Edwin Bautista recently announced their partnership with a local non-profit organization assisting emerging artists and collectors in navigating so-called NFTs or non-fungible tokens in the country.
The bank shared the collaboration with the Center for Art, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development (Canvas. PH) which was formalized only last month. UnionBank head of Blockchain Center of Excellence (BCOE) Cathy Casas and Canvas.PH executive director Gigo Alampay held a virtual signing event. This was also participated in by then Department of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla who originally introduced the organization to the banking giant.
“Art has always been a powerful tool in creating positive change, and the advent of NFT technology potentially opens up more opportunities for artists to positively impact society through their work,” said Lotilla. “Together with the leading expertise of UnionBank in blockchain, we believe that this partnership will help Canvas.PH uplift more lives through its advocacy”.
“Through this partnership, we want the public to know that UnionBank supports NFT art and intends to be involved in this emerging space. Primarily, the goal is to empower and educate artists and collectors to mint their own NFT. We are proud of our Filipino artists. Their pursuit of NFT as a new medium is a true example of innovation in action,” said Henry Aguda, Union Bank’s senior executive vice president, chief technology and operations officer as well as chief transformation officer.
