Since they became popular last year, non-fungible tokens have remained the hottest topic in the digital space. Although these crypto assets have been around for much longer, NFT enthusiasts and collectors are constantly looking for the latest and most exciting projects to add to their portfolios as part of an elaborate digital asset accumulation. But for an enthusiast like Whitney Reid, creating his project became a major driving force rather than keeping a collection. So in collaboration with Jay Cutler, the idea behind the Metapump NFT collection was conceived.
Despite being a standalone project, Metapump holders are in for a ride. The early holders will receive unique access to connect with co-founder Jay Cutler, who has over 10M followers between 3 platforms, and participate in the project’s Zoom calls, one-on-one Instagram live events, and in-person training with Jay at an all-expense paid event in Vegas.
Metapump will also be open access for minting mini collections using some of Jay’s branding (swole monkeys, pig life), and early investors will be rewarded with free drops ahead of the public mint.
Whitney’s passion for fitness inspired the collection, thus the creation of 9,600 unique 3D stylized characters, all of which are based on Jay Cutler’s likeness. According to the creators, some of the characters will be utility-type, while others will become access tokens. In addition, Metapump holders will receive different attractive discounts for Cutler Nutrition and Cutler Athletics, two brands owned by Jay Cutler, and other apparel brands in the fitness community.
After 20 years in the fitness industry, 11 of which he spent with BPI sports, Whitney has gained enough experience in sales, marketing, and production and fostered a relationship with icons like Jay Cutler. As one of the earliest investors in crypto, diving into the NFT space gave him a new avenue to uphold the fitness buzz he was used to; and he founded Metapump on that ideal. “I was an early investor in crypto and started investing in NFTs around the beginning of COVID lockdowns,” he explained his entry into NFT.
A collector at heart (massive sports card/memorabilia collector), Whitney’s love for investing in alternative assets led him into the NFT bubble. “About a year ago, Jay and I started discussing a collection of our own. We didn’t want to launch a collection of random images of Jay without any utility, so we took our time researching other projects and built something unique. I’m sure we could have just launched images of Jay and sold plenty, but that isn’t our goal.”
While the immediate goal is to create a project that anyone could relate to and understand the backstory, the long-term goal is to become a driving force in the fast-evolving Web3 fitness community. Although Whitney understands how tedious the journey might be, he is convinced that it is a step in the right direction towards introducing NFT enthusiasts to a different experience in the growing metaverse.
