Stanible turns superfans into NFT collectors

While checking out the Stanible app, I saw Filipino celebrity Sabrina San Diego's awesome photo and decided to buy it. So I clicked on the Collect button and proceeded to top up my Stanible wallet balance. Since I'm on iOS, it's just a simple in-app purchase via iTunes. You can also pay via credit cards, debit cards, or Philippine e-wallets like GCash and Maya. No hassle. No need for cryptocurrency. No need to connect to a crypto wallet. In fact, you might not even realize that you're buying a non-fungible token (NFT), or, as it's more popularly called these days, a digital collectible. All you care about is that you're supporting your favorite celebrity and enjoying a new way to collect their merch.

"It's a new medium or avenue where celebrities can be creative on how they engage their fans, especially by offering utilities. At the same time, fans will have real ownership," Stanible Co-Founder and CMO Harry Santos told Digital Life Asia.

Not only is the process painless for fans, but also for celebrities and content creators. All they need to do is upload their photos and videos on the app, just as they would on social media. Stanible then automatically mints these into digital collectibles.

"We’re getting rid of the steep learning curve so that celebrities, content creators, and their fans can take advantage of NFT technology without the complexity and high costs," Santos said.

Stanible is a Philippine web3 startup founded by Stanible CEO Mel Lozano-Alcaraz, Santos, Ranvel Rufino, Jardine Gerodias, and John Bailon. Its name comes from the term stan, which is used as both a noun and a verb for a "superfan".

"We’re also stans, so we know how thrilling it is for superfans to gain unique, closer-than-ever access to their faves. Stanible provides an unrivaled fan experience and a simple, convenient way for celebs to create NFTs especially for their stans," Lozano-Alcaraz said.

Among the celebrities that attended the Stanible launch event, dubbed as "One Night Stan," were Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi, content creator Macoy Dubs, comedy and podcast group TheKoolPals, and "Drag Race Philippines" alumna Turing.

Not only did they attend, but also they minted their own digital collectibles, joining celebrities such as Gabbi Garcia, Khalil Ramos, Bianca Umali, Arci Muñoz, and Basti Artadi on the platform.

Sharing Stanible's plans for this year, Santos said they are focusing on three things: growing and engaging with existing fan communities, getting brands onboard, and expanding on utilities for the digital collectibles. He said this would include unlocking gated content, accessing communities, attending meet-and-greets, and other benefits.

With global brands such as Starbucks and Nike embracing web3 and bringing digital collectibles to the general public, will web3 become more mainstream in 2023?

"The awareness is already there, with studies showing the Philippines as one of the top users already. We just hope Stanible and other products can help make web3 more user-friendly and accessible for all as that will be the key to mainstream adoption," Santos said.

Let's hope more people will stan web3 in 2023.