IIT Delhi partners with Binance to issue NFT tickets, organise crypto contest for cultural fest

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has partnered with Binance, a crypto exchange and blockchain platform, to provide non-fungible token (NFT) tickets and proof of attendance protocol (POAP) during its upcoming three-day cultural fest ‘Rendezvous’ to be held from April 24-26. The NFT tickets will be issued for attendees on concert nights. 

Binance said it will also organise competitions on crypto trading and NFT arts, along with an educational webinar ‘crypto for all’ on crypto and blockchain on May 1 where participants will be rewarded with a certificate. Binance is also the title sponsor for the IIT festival. 

Khushpreet Singh, BRCA IIT Delhi overall coordinator pointed out that the partnership with Binance will allow students to learn about the blockchain technology and see some of its applications in action. “The digitisation of the event will definitely infuse a new level of excitement to the attendee experience, while also imparting knowledge about this most interesting technology that enables us to be future-ready,” he added. 

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According to Aman Lohia, Rendezvous' overall coordinator, registration for the fest has been a long-standing issue and the use of blockchain and NFT will help address it. 

Binance is one of the leading crypto exchange platforms with an estimated user base of 28.5 million. The company has been actively involved with students and institutes. For instance, last month, Binance and Inter-Institutional Inclusive Innovation Centre (i4c) launched a ‘Blockchain for Good’ Ideathon for students in India with the objective of solving problems using blockchain technology.

Leon Foong, head of Asia-Pacific at Binance said he is happy to provide his company’s infrastructure and platform to inspire and educate students in Web3, blockchain and crypto. 

“We are looking forward to the innovative ideas that will emerge during the festival and the new economic opportunities that will arise from events like this,” Foong added. 

Though NFT arts are very popular, more companies are exploring real-world use cases of NFTs. The use of NFTs for ticketing would curb the issue of duplicate or fake tickets as they cannot be replicated. Since the entire ticket distribution will be based on blockchain, organisers can track the ticket’s entire life cycle. 

Elsewhere, an art and music festival organised by Afterparty in Las Vegas in March sold half of the 6,000 entry tickets as NFTs.