Blockchain toy startup CryptoKaiju launches traceable collectible figures

Blockchain toy startup CryptoKaiju has announced the launch of both its individual product and subscription box office.

Founded in 2018, CryptoKaiju is a blockchain startup producing cryptocurrency-themed vinyl toys fully traceable on a public blockchain. These traceable collectible figures offer enthusiasts blockchain’s benefits of provenance, authenticity, and scarcity to physical collectibles.

“As a longtime collector of designer toys such as Kaws, Futura Pointmen and Medicom Bearbricks, I've previously had issues with not having full confidence that what I was buying was genuine, as well as issues with knowing exactly how many items have been produced in each batch,” Oliver Carding, Co-founder of Crypto Kaiju and founder of blockchain news site CoinJournal, said.

“The concept of bringing not just provenance, but also a personality, through a set of attributes to a physical toy is extremely intriguing. That’s really where the idea for Kaiju came from and we’re excited to explore the full potential of this technology.”

Kaiju’s first figure, aptly named ‘Genesis,’ has been designed to illustrate a Bitcoin-themed traditional Kaiju monster. Only 130 Genesis figures will ship to customers starting early December, with the additional offering of Kaiju’s subscription box service launching later in the month, where subscribers will receive a unique, crypto-themed figure each month, the official release said.

A tamper resistant NFC (near-field communication) chip is embedded into the foot of each figure. The technology enables smartphones and other devices to communicate with other devices that have the NFC tag. Each Kaiju will also utilize the same token standard (ERC-721) present in CryptoKitties, allowing each toy’s unique ID tag to be linked physically and digitally, ensuring that the provenance and singularity is unable to be pirated or faked.

Each individual Kaiju toy is represented as a token that sits within a self-executing contract known as a ‘smart contract.’ This unique token contains a set of metadata describing the toy including its birth date, gender, color, a description and two personality traits such as ‘intelligence’ or ‘creativity.’ Certain traits and colors will be scarcer than others, resulting in varying demand for toys, as well as the excitement of the unknown.

In addition to Carding, the CryptoKaiju team comprises of three more co-founders – David Moore, James Morgan, and Andy Gray – who founded digital art market Known Origin earlier this year. Carding met the Known Origin team at a blockchain meetup in Manchester. Since then, the four have been exploring ways to bring blockchain to the masses, and in particular those without a technical background.

“… for most people, conceptualizing technology that’s completely intangible is rather difficult. Unless they can actually see or feel the item they’ve purchased, it often doesn’t make sense. We can’t wait to bring the benefits that blockchain offers to a physical product and creating an easy access point for people who wish to get involved in the space,” Carding added.