Popular musician The Weeknd first stepped into the NFT scene early last year as the market was heating up, and since then he has continued to make moves. The latest of these is engaging the world’s largest crypto exchange for his upcoming world tour and launching themed NFTs.
Yesterday, Binance and The Weeknd announced that the exchange will sponsor the artist’s world tour After Hours 'Til Dawn, which begins in July. Binance describes it as 'crypto-powered tour' and claims it will be the first global concert tour to utilize Web3 technology for fan experiences.
Binance will collaborate with the Toronto-based community incubator HXOUSE to develop an NFT collection around the tour. Concert attendees will also receive a virtual ticket that can be redeemed for commemorative NFTs.
As part of the partnership, Binance will donate $2 million to the XO humanitarian fund, which The Weeknd established earlier this year in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The Weeknd and Binance will also collaborate on additional NFTs and donate 5 percent of sales to the fund.
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, first entered the NFT space in April 2021 by releasing artwork through the Nifty Gateway platform. In October of last year, he joined the board of Autograph, an NFT platform co-founded by NFL star Tom Brady, and has since released his own Ethereum NFTs through the platform.
The Weeknd has also invested in Everyrealm, a company that invests in and develops virtual NFT real estate in metaverse video games like The Sandbox and Decentraland.
