The Neko token is the designated Utility token for the Maneki Marketplace which in turn was born out of a grant from Conflux Network back in 2021. We were the first NFT project grantee of Conflux and have since evolved into an integrated NFT Marketplace and talent nurturing platform with a focus on being the ‘OpenSea’ equivalent for the China market – leveraging on our umbilical cord with Conflux Network.

Another feature of the Maneki Marketplace will be the first coin and NFT-based Lending Protocol. All these features of the Maneki Marketplace is centred on the Proof of Provenance by Artificial Intelligence (PoP-AI) which provides automatic Proof of Provenance services of all NFTs traded or pledged in the ecosystem – and charges a fee in Neko token, thereby ensuring a healthy utilisation and burn rate for the token.

In the immediate pipeline are plans to opensource PoP-AI to the world and institutions (through the Maneki Foundation) to ensure wider usage and continuous evolution. The Maneki Foundation will be identifying universities and institutions with the aim of providing grants for more PoP-AI projects throughout the world.