Dear sir, not another Surf NFT

If the current near-recession has one takeaway, it’s that the crypto cowboys have been quiet. I can’t say I miss being stuck in that shorebreak – where 18-40 year old men with impressive moralizing topspin delivered news at every imaginable social engagement that financial freedom was just over the hill, just a click away.

“I WENT LIKE TWO GRAND IN ONE DAY ON DoGe Coin. TO THE MOON”, could be heard in echoes around the world in 2019, shortly before donkeys were done in the bubble burst at the end of 2021 and long-suffering fathers were forced to accommodate idiot sons.

With crypto now a very uncool trend to nail your flag to, it seems decentralized currencies aren’t as revolutionary as the boiled white boys kept telling us in 2019. The real disruptor is AI – this is going to be so big man . The skinny jeans have been replaced by pastel chinos, the cocaine with mushie caps.

With BIT currently back and everything else going to crap, there’s no better moment than the present to say, “DAMMIT I SOLD YOU” and direct those within earshot to a similarly volatile set of blockchain assets – NFTs.

That’s what a group of Brazilian surfers is betting on with the recently launched Surf Junkie Club – “a digital community with real benefits” as one of the founders, Felipe Baracchini, puts it. SJC is a club that offers its members a range of exclusive surfing products and experiences, known as Drops: a surf trip to the Mentawai Islands; a jet ski ride at Nazaré in massive conditions; an “air clinic” with a pro at a wave pool; exclusive Billabong products; Pyzel’s exclusive “Junkie Model” surfboard and so on.

Each Loose comes as a digital voucher and is offered exclusively to members – who can buy them and redeem the experience, or simply sell them online to non-members on marketplaces like OpenSea. You become a member by purchasing a digital collective (or NFT) designed by surfer, North Shore resident and artist Marcello Serpa. It’s your membership card – and it can also be sold online. “We’re a community of surf addicts on a mission,” explains Baracchini. “First, we’ll use digital collectibles to create the coolest surf club in the world. Next, we want to make Surf Junkies a legitimate global brand. How? Community power. We have surf junkies in São Paulo, in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street. We have surf junkies who are engineers, designers, lifeguards, business owners and rock stars. We’re everywhere.”

The project has received an impressive show of support from surfing communities around the world, especially Brazil. Surfers such as Caio Ibelli, Donavon Frankenheiter, Bruno Santos, Carlos Burle, Willian Cardoso, Marco Giorgi, Chris Coté, Bella Nalu and even Stab’s former editor Steven Allain, to name a few, are on board. “The experiences offered to members are what interests me the most,” says Allain. “Imagine spending a week on the Mentawais and getting barreling tips from one of your favorite pros? For everyday surfers, it’s the kind of experience they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives.” Mint Day (when membership sales open to the public) is Tuesday 21 March^St.

You can’t lose!

Find out more here or follow them on Instagram @surfjunkieclub.