Digital Nomads, NFTs and One Man's Quest to Build an Island Oasis for Remote Work

An entrepreneur is picking himself back up after miscalculating the investment, and interest, needed to build an eco-lodge on a remote island in Indonesia. Olumide Gbenro originally planned to sell 5,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at around $500 each to fund the development of a resort designed to cater to remote workers, digital nomads and “location independent investors.” The tokens would have acted as life-time access passes to the private retreat, with accommodation and food pricing levels to be set by the new community. It’s a relatively new and highly unconventional way of raising cash, and Gbenro made just $65,000. However, he has now relaunched the project, scaling it down tenfold, and remains convinced the wider travel industry will ultimately benefit from the NFT craze. Is It Tourism's Turn? NFTs are becoming popular in the art world, as well as sport. Each token is a unique, digital collectible item stored on a blockchain. It’s different to cryptocurrency because each one has a unique identifying code. When you buy one, there is a permanent record of ownership and digital evidence of its provenance. [caption id="attachment_459985" align="alignright" width="300"] A digital nomad resort is being planned on Buka Buka, Indonesia.[/caption] The National Basketball Association uses them to sell trading cards via its NBA Top Shot platform, while some football clubs, including Manchester City, sell tokens to fans. They can also be traded after their purchase, on marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. While one luxury hotel in Venice is using NFTs to auction a night’s stay, they’re not commonly used in the travel industry. Gbenro believes his attempt is the first. "I haven’t seen anyone do it in this way. There’s no blueprint, that’s why I messed up," he said. “It was tough. It kind of failed, or didn’t do so well. I wanted to run away and say for