Meet the COO Putting an Actual T-Rex into the Metaverse

Edwin Mata, COO & Co-founder of Metarex tells us about blockchain and NFTs.

Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded Metarex?

Edwin Mata: I started my career as a corporate lawyer, pivoted to startups, and ended deep into the cryptoverse. Back in the day, I was used to wearing suits all day and understanding the world from a very “boxed” point of view, to understand now that there is a new perspective taking over the world, which is decentralization and continuous access without a single point of authority.
Three companies founded Metarex; Veritas, Brickken, and Xave, and I am the CEO and CoFounder of Brickken. This venture began due to the close relationship the three companies have and because of the similar thought to what Metarex could be bringing not only to the academic world but also to the world itself as a new form of engagement and possibility enabler.
Metarex was born on a WhatsApp group! Talking about how digitized humanity is truly becoming.

How does Metarex innovate?

Edwin Mata: Besides the use of blockchain and NFTs, we innovate by building up a system where we can bring fossils from private owners into museums for the world to admire. It is a new form of democratization, as we understand there are objects in this world that are truly invaluable. For example, in our first project of the T-Rex, there are only 32 fossils left in the world. Our goal is to provide access to one of them, not only from a digital point of view through the use of NFTs but also through real-life utilities like free museum visitations, guided tours, etc.
Our goal is to bridge the gap between digital and analog and create new forms of experience while democratizing access to extremely rare assets like fossils.

How did the coronavirus pandemic affect your business?

Edwin Mata: Coronavirus has been a reboot on the world itself. We can truly see how everything has changed and how interaction has become among people and companies themselves. It has boosted the speed of digitization, and some businesses might have never occurred if this digitization was not adopted globally.
Metarex was founded during this pandemic, and it allowed us to be lean and efficient to hit our go-to-market in a short period.

What are the current trends in the NFT industry, and how fast it changes?

Edwin Mata: 2021’s keyword was, without a doubt, NFT. We witnessed how it was a mere representation or digital art, and now we are seeing how utilities are built on top, or even communities backing up projects. I believe we are in the early stages, and we will see growth towards using the NFT as an enabler of a second layer, be the metaverse, be a real-life experience or anything that allows the NFT holder to feel part of something bigger than themselves, or have access to the uniqueness. 2022 in the blockchain will be about metaverses and play2earn verticals, all of them existing on top of NFTs, their building blocks.

Who is the target audience of Metarex? Do you have any interesting partnerships?

Edwin Mata: We have two very specific buyer personas defined. Those looking for a quick flip on their NFTs, and looking at this venture as a form of monetization, and those wanting to join the journey of bringing the fossils into the hands of the public. We have different funnels targeting this two-buyer persona as their interest in Metarex is completely different.
We are currently building some very interesting partnerships with the academic world, as they are key for this startup to function. Metarex, while being a startup, also wants to be able to become a tool for funding academic projects and bridge academia with retail.

Tell us more about your platform/technology.

Edwin Mata: We have developed a marketplace running on the blockchain, where one can see the fossils that are in NFTs. We plan to create a museum-like experience, and for this, we will be building part of our structure in the metaverse.

How do you see the future of Metarex? What are the next steps for the company?

Edwin Mata: While we are an early-stage startup, we see a bright future. We will be beginning our roadshow very soon to fund this unique vision. Once the marketplace of the NFT is done, our next step is the metaverse, to end in a play2earn scheme. We will be breaking barriers and perspectives as we continue this journey, but what is clear is that if we can tokenize a TRex, imagine what the future could bring.

Your Website?

https://metarex.io/