NFT or Non-fungible tokens are cryptographic records of ownership for a unique item (image, video or music, etc.) stored on a blockchain – huh; it is a handful.
The item itself can be a digital piece of art (like the MSC) or a physical item (like a painting).

Put it simply, thanks to NFTs anybody can see or prove on the public blockchain who owns what or who is the owner of a certain item.
Furthermore, NFTs can provide further utilities to the owner, other than just the proof of ownership (community membership, discounts, admittance to an event or any other perks).

The first NFT project was launched in 2017 called crypto punks.

The most expensive digital art (NFT) created by an artist called Beeple was sold in 2021 for $69 million.

So, basically, an NFT is a collectable item, that appreciates in value with time. The community around certain NFT collections share the same values, so you are proud of showing your NFT off, furthermore, it brings you other benefits. 

This video shows a very entertaining way of explaining what an NFT is.

We are living in the transition from so-called Web2 to Web3.

So far, big platforms have made big money from the sweat and work of creators worldwide, mainly through advertising income (selling our data).

NFTs bring a new set of rules and opportunities mainly for the advantage of the individual creator, so you and me. Creators will be compensated directly for their creativity and work instead of the big platforms.

NFTs are not confined to platforms, they can be shared freely from peer to peer. They live on the blockchain. The more they are shared, understood and appreciated by others the more their value will grow benefiting not few big corporations, but the individual creators.

In summary, web3 is about the internet where our ideas and creativity can be directly supported, where information is free, and where individual creators are paid for what they do with their minds.

This TED presentation explains it all well:

Melanoma is a deadly skin cancer to put it straight. It grows on the skin, so it develops in front of our eyes (unless it is in the middle of the back) which gives us a chance to catch it early and save a life. 

Family members can be crucial in early diagnosis too. It happens many times that a patient is coming for a mole check because a relative picked up something on their back.

So, educating yourself about melanoma and its early signs can save your life or of a loved one too.

There are two important facts about melanoma it is worth knowing:

1. 70% of the time melanoma develops as a new lesion on the skin, not as a change of an existing mole. 
2. In most cases, melanoma grows very slowly, like a snail. Hence the snail analogy in the NFT collection. 

MSC is the first NFT collection with the aim of providing medical education and saving lives. It is intended to create awareness around melanoma skin cancer and early-stage recognition. 

The MSC consist of unique hand-made art pieces representing different aspects of melanoma skin cancer, its development or recognition. 

It can be shared freely on the internet and the more it is understood and appreciated, the more lives the NFTs save, the more the value of the individual NFTs will increase in time for the benefit of the creator and owners. 

MSC NFT owners will have different benefits and values coming with ownership, such as free virtual mole checks, access to Dr Bela and his inner team to ask any skin or NFT related questions and many more to be determined as the project develops. 

– education about melanoma; raising awareness.

– equip people with knowledge and skills to identify a suspicious lesion on the skin

– save lives via education and early recognition of melanoma skin cancer

– raising awareness about melanoma in the general medical population (every doctor builds a minimal level of skills to use a dermatoscope to check moles of their patients)

– every doctor has a dermatoscope and knows how to use it

– there is reliable artificial intelligence (AI) freely accessible for doctors to upload their images and receive a second opinion about the nature of the lesion on the skin of their patients

MSC community members or as Dr Bela calls ourselves, ‘Snailers’ share the following values:

• We are fascinated by technological advances, such as blockchain and NFTs, so we are happy to learn about them.
• We are aware of the value of such technological advances and appreciate the good they are doing for humankind on multiple levels (called use-cases).
• We appreciate the values, mission and goals of the Melanoma Snail Collection NFTs, and we consider ourselves as proud Snailers representing these.
• We are proudly sharing about our Community Membership and the NFTs, knowing that by doing so we can potentially contribute to its goals and we can save lives.
• We are happy to study the MSC NFTs, understand their messages and share them with others.
• We consider ourselves people committed to self-education, value creation, helping others, sharing love and contributing to the common good on many levels.

1. Study the NFTs one by one. Understand what they represent. Read the blog posts explaining the creatives, so you will learn and understand melanoma skin cancer. Eventually, this knowledge can save your life or someone around you.
2. Check your skin for signs of skin cancer.
3. Check your close family as well.
4. Share your experience with others, and draw their attention to the project.
5. If you have a suspicion, consider entering the Melanoma Snail Game.
6. If you have saved someone’s life by referring the MSC to them, enter the game in that category.
7. Be a proud Snailer!

There are two main ways an MSC NFT ownership can benefit you.

1. The more the NFTs are shared, understood and appreciated globally, the more lives they save, the higher their individual value will become. So, they work as collectable items appreciating with time and community effort.
2. The utilities (perks) they hold for their actual owners. These utilities depend on the time of the actual release. The earlier the release ie. the so-called OG mint (earliest release) will contain the most valuable utilities. The later the release, the more obvious the values are, the fewer benefits they will provide to their owners.

• virtual mole check by Dr Bela (3 moles per owner per year for minimum 5 years). T&Cs apply.
• Direct access to Dr Bela do ask skin related questions.

As you understand by now, NFTs are digital proofs of ownership of unique art pieces coded on the blockchain. 

Every blockchain has its own currency. The MSC NFTs are living on the Ethereum blockchain. Its currency is called Ether (ETH). At the time of writing 1 ETH is $2795. 

In order to buy an NFT (or anything blockchain-related), you need to own this currency in a blockchain wallet.

It is very easy to download and set up the Metamask wallet as a Chrome browser attachment (DO NOT EVER share the key-phrase and password with anyone and DO NOT click on any link in an email asking for it! Beware of scammers!)

Once you have your wallet set up you can convert your native currency (fiat currency) to ETH (cryptocurrency) on an exchange and transfer it to your wallet.

Once you have your wallet with your crypto funds you are ready to engage with the crypto (blockchain) world. 

Connect your wallet to the MSC website – not available at the time of writing yet. Will be updated.

Register in order to be able to take part in a mint (release of an NFT for purchase) – not available at the time of writing yet. Will be updated.

Be there and mint (purchase) your NFT.

Welcome among MSC NFT owners. 

(This content is under development. Further details and video explanation will be released in due course.)

The purpose of the Melanoma Snail Game is to publicly acknowledge the first people whose lives have been saved by the MSC and those who contributed to this by referring the MSC to their friends, relatives or publicly sharing it on their social profiles.

The first 3 people will be declared the winners of the MSC Game in both categories. Once they are announced, the MS Game will be replaced by a counter on the website showing the number of lives saved and probably names of people whose referral saved these lives. 

The entry criteria for the Melanoma Snail Game are detailed on this page.

The primary cause of creating MSC NFTs is to raise awareness of melanoma skin cancer and save lives.

So, the ways to support this cause is to 

1. Study the NFTs yourself and learn about melanoma and how to catch it in the early stage
2. Check your own skin and those close to you.
3. Spread the news about the MSC cause
4. When you purchase an NFT you also support the case by providing funds to the ongoing creative and marketing campaign, furthermore you will own a collectable piece which appreciates in value and you can enjoy the utilities (benefits) coming with the ownership as well.
5. Ask your questions and polish your understanding.
6. Be a proud Snailer!

If you have any questions about the MSC or you are considering creating your own NFTs you can contact Dr Bela on info@melanomasnail.com

You can follow Dr Bela on Twitter @drbela_clinic.

This section will be updated regularly as more social channels will be revealed.