People have spent more than $ 230 million buying and trading the digital collectibles of the most prominent NBAs

The highlight of LeBron James sold for $ 200,000. Zion Williamson’s version went a little less. The National Basketball Association allied with itself officially for the future of the trading card market, and at the moment, this game is sold out.

The NBA partnered with its headquarters in Canada Dabur Laboratories, Makers CryptoKitties game, To make his copy a collectible digital asset. NBA is Collecting cryptocurrencies Consumers can purchase as a file Symbol is not exchangeable (NFT). Each collectible is linked to a blockchain – a digital ledger similar to the blockchain used for digital currencies such as bitcoin. This effectively gives each NFT a unique and impenetrable Certificate of Authenticity. So even if someone makes a perfect copy of the featured video, it will be instantly recognized as a fake.

Current “bundles” to enter the game as low as $ 9.00 – They are constantly being sold.

Katie Tedman, head of marketing and team partnerships at Dapper Labs, says Top Shots has sold over $ 230 million so far, although most of this has come from dealers who swapped collectibles after the initial sale. Dapper earns revenue through fees earned from inter-peer-to-peer transactions and the launch of new packages of NFTs.

“I think it’s cool,” he said. Tom Richardson, Professor of Digital Media in the Sports Management Program at Columbia University.

“It’s a great development and it’s nice to see that people are still making acquisitions, even during this time,” added Lars Rensing, chief executive of the blockchain service provider. protocol. “It’s a new step into the future.”

The game has also become a new source of NBA revenue. And again, it was sold.

The National Basketball Association licenses reels for the Dapper Laps, which digitize the shots, making a limited amount to create rarity. Some NFTs feature highlights at various angles and digital artwork. Currently single Listed for over $ 240,000.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban compared Top Shot to the old-school model of trading cards, where consumers can enjoy trading and collecting rare items – only without the risk of damage or theft. And he wrote in “The value is still determined by the same laws of supply and demand.” January.

Richardson, senior vice president of strategy at Mercury Intermedia. “So if enough people want to spotlight the same Zion Williamson, NFT, and bidding on it get up to $ 100,000, that bid and ask. Someone thought it was worth $ 100,000.”

The bet for traders is that in 2051, A. LeBron James NFT It could be worth what 1952 Tops Mickey Mantle The card is worth today – one of those rare cards that recently sold for $ 5.2 million. And just imagine what the rare NFT budding Michael Jordan will sell in 30 years.

“We think it can be a product for 100 years,” said Tidman of Dapper Labs. “If you think about the value of today’s entry-level cards worth in the future, especially those that belong to this point of the product. Everyone who participates now will really come to the ground floor.”

With blockchain, Richardson says, Dapper overcomes a major challenge with digital assets, which is the ease with which they can be copied infinitely many times without friction.

He added, “One of the things that defined the digital age is that we have moved from a world of scarcity to a world of abundance with all kinds of media assets and products.” “But the thing that defines the business of trading cards is the physical scarcity of the cards. So (Dapper) created these NFTs with the idea of ​​scarcity along with authenticity because of the way the blockchain works.”

With this asset, Dapper is positioning itself to benefit from a digital generation that values ​​digital assets as much as physical assets.

“The new generation is more digital,” said Rensing. “I think it will continue because it is a solution that also attracts new and original fans digitally.”

Earlier this month, Dapper raised $ 250 million and is now valuing itself at $ 2 billion thanks in part to the surprising popularity of Top Shot, according to digital asset research and news outlet. Mass.

With the funds, Dapper cotinine will expand its blockchain, flow. Tedman, co-founder of Top Shot, said he now has nearly 350,000 registered users and claimed that Flow could better handle high-value market capacity, something that caused problems. With CryptoKitties Producer.

“It gives us access to a scale that other blockchain projects haven’t yet reached,” Tedman said. Of the $ 230 million in sales so far, it said, consumers accounted for 95% of it in its markets who buy, sell and trade.

She said the company released 5,000 new packages of premium products this week as a stress test for Flow, and 90,000 people queued up to buy. The packages sold out quickly.

“They come and collect what they think are good combos and they buy and sell,” Tedman said. “It’s almost like if you store trading cards with the stock market. This is itself a game, before we launched the mobile game.”

This mobile game, slated for release this year, will allow consumers to build NBA-like rosters by having NFT moments, then competing in online tournaments – and possibly winning more rare NFTs that can increase their value.

“This could be an opportunity to enjoy your interest and love for the sport – in this case, basketball – alongside your interest in new technology trials and financial experiences such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs,” Richardson said.

Som Norsalhi is the CEO of the software company tZERO, A company that encodes the assets of private or public companies and builds the platform that allows asset trading. He sees a bright future with sports leagues using NFT licensing agreements, and suggests that he is a model for how blockchain technology can be used to track and trade other types of assets.

Noorsalhi said Blockchain technology “will change the way we trade value today, and how we trade assets.”

Tidman added, “We’re just at the beginning of this. We have so many big plans that we can’t wait to put them in front of people.”

Let the new games begin, like The digital age It continues to crystallize. But entry to the Dapper NBA Top Shot competition is currently sold out.