The Genesis: Bentley Motors’ Next Venture Into The NFT Domain

Slated for September 2022, its first venture into the NFT marketplace, Bentley Motors to launch a one-time NFT on the carbon-neutral Polygon network.

Limited to just 208 examples, Bentley’s NFT, the Genesis, will be a unique artwork created by Bentley Design, and will offer unique community access and exclusive rewards to holders. 

Bentley Motors’ board member for sales and marketing, Alain Favey, expressed, “Bentley customers are living their lives online, purchasing luxury goods with digital currency, and establishing businesses in the Metaverse. We’ve always engaged our customers where they explore their passions, and today that means being present in digital marketplaces and offering NFT assets. We’ve seen how NFTs have raised the profiles of both art and artists, and we believe the same can happen in the luxury automotive space.”

Notably, Bentley is positioning this first drop to lead a long-term approach to expand and enhance Bentley ownership in the Web3 ecosystem. 

The Bentley collection will be minted on Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform onboarding millions to Web3. 

Polygon recently attained carbon-neutral status and has pledged to go carbon negative by the end of 2022. As a result, all Bentley NFTs will be entirely carbon-neutral. 

With a pledge to achieve end-to-end carbon neutrality by 2030, as do when all Bentley vehicles will be fully battery electric, it was vital that Bentley’s first venture into Web3 was in a sustainable way.

Polygon Studios’ chief executive officer, Ryan Wyatt, remarked, “Polygon is excited to expand our partnerships in the automobile industry, by working with the most prestigious brand in its sector. Polygon will provide the sustainable, low-fee infrastructure Bentley requires for its foray into Web3. By embracing this novel tech, Bentley secures its position in the next iteration of the internet, and doing so via Polygon's carbon-neutral network will assist the automaker on its journey toward attaining carbon-neutrality by 2030."

Significantly, Bentley’s NFT drop will be an integral first step into Web3 space, as the brand will also explore other digital platforms.

Namely, NFCs (non-fungible chips), online gaming, Metaverse applications and the use of blockchain technology across the organisation. 

Elsewhere, proceeds from this and future activations will further the brand’s philanthropic efforts. It will accelerate support for students interested in engineering, design and manufacturing.

On top of that, Bentley also plans to support organizations working to increase sustainability efforts, especially in the transportation sector. 

The unique pieces of digital art featured on the NFTs will be revealed following the drop in September.

That said, 208 has special relevance to Bentley, being both the top speed of its fastest Grand Tourer, the Continental GT Speed, and the total production run of its iconic 1952 R-Type Continental.