Vera, a non-fungible token (NFT) decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, made history today by effectively renting a $1.5 million Bored Apes Yacht Club NFT, “#65,” between two unidentified individuals immediately following the release of its eagerly awaited Ethereum mainnet network in front of more than 3,000 participants at the Sagamore South Beach Hotel during Art Basel Miami.
The rental was decentralized and non-custodial, which implies that no escrow middleman or formal contract was necessary to take control of the NFT at any point. These financial transactions are enabled by Vera’s smart contracts, which are programs stored on a blockchain that execute when predefined requirements are satisfied. They are utilized to automate the implementation of a contract, ensuring that all partakers are instantaneously sure of the exact eventual result, without the need for a middleman or time delay.
Denis Lam, CEO and Founder of Vera Labs, the company responsible for establishing Vera, said, “This year’s great interest in NFTs demonstrates a community’s willingness to have full title to the goods they produce, acquire, or hold. However, actual ownership requires that these goods create regular revenue and have value beyond frivolous buying and selling. Vera is delighted to take on these difficulties and be a pioneer in financialzing the next trillion-dollar asset class to emerge with the emergence of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.”
Michael Arbach, Vera Labs’ Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, adding, “Demonstrating NFT lending and leasing on our Ethereum mainnet marks a watershed moment in the finance sector. A centralized escrow service provider’s overhead expenses are much greater and often grow in lockstep with the value of transacted assets. We are enabling such services to be conducted for a flat cost regardless of the value of the assets loaned and borrowed using Vera’s decentralized technology.
Additionally, when we implement our technology on other blockchain networks in the near future, such as Polygon, BSC, or Solana, we will further reduce the cost of service to an insignificant level. Additionally, our system is substantially more cost efficient and secure than typical centralized techniques.
Our debut is a minor step ahead in our technical roadmap, but a great leap forward in terms of expanding our platform’s applications/use cases beyond digital and cryptonative arts, including event passes, tickets, music, entertainment, gaming, and metaverses.”
Bob Murray, a Bored Ape Yacht Club member and owner of the rental B.A.Y.C. NFT, notes, “I’m pleased to contribute to Vera’s monumental historic achievement in the crypto and NFT sector. What made it extra special for me was that this historic moment occurred at one of the most epic parties during Art Basel Miami, in the presence of legendary artists such as Busta Rhymes, Murdabeatz, and N.O.R.E., and in front of thousands of attendees who are passionate about cryptocurrency, NFTs, and hip hop culture.”
Vera’s mainnet is a permissionless public network built on Ethereum that will soon be available on other major blockchains such as Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Solana, allowing anyone to begin developing decentralized financial applications for NFTs that require rental, lending, and mortgage transactions.
Established at the beginning of 2021 and supported by prominent decentralized fintech investors such as Animoca Brands, Sky Vision Capital, Infinity Venture Crypto, and the Web3 Foundation (grant), Vera’s objective is straightforward: to create open, safe, and powerful NFT financial products that are readily accessible to all, everywhere, and ruled by its native token $VERA.
