Crypto and the NFT are very lucrative markets to be, but not everyone wants to be there just to profit, some of the projects give a hand to the ones in need and this one nailed it!
Artist Glenn Kaino and Olympian and activist Tommie Smith used the best of NFT and made “Pass The Baton” blockchain campaign, earning 86.40 ETH or $347,355 (at the time of publish).
For their “Pass The Baton” blockchain campaign—which can be tracked through a dedicated gallery on baton.art—Kaino produced 7,872 digitally-rendered baton NFTs that reference Smith’s iconic, defiant act of protest against racism and injustice, when he raised his fist on the podium during the medal ceremony in the 1968 Olympic Games. 24 human rights organizations will receive the funds accrued.
“Pass the Baton is a technology-driven art project that has as its core the intention to create a sustainable engine for philanthropy, one that drives resources to 23 different organizations around the country who all are engaged in the fight for equality and human rights. It is meant to bring together the best qualities from the disparate worlds of art, blockchain, and social justice that it connects.
When Tommie Smith retired, he took the baton that he used to break all those world records, the one I drew him passing, and he decorated it with the names of his teammates and their split times, using 1970’s red embossing label maker tape. When I saw the baton in his house, it struck me immediately as a beautiful, meaningful art object. It is so historically significant but it also looked so cool. It looked like a lightsaber for a civil rights hero. I knew instantly that I wanted to do something with the baton one day.”, wrote the artist.