IOI
On Friday, cricketer Rohit Sharma launched his personal collection of non fungible tokens (NFTs) on digital collectables website FanCraze, in collaboration with Faze Technologies. Memorabilia such as Sharma’s ICC Golden Bat from the 2019 ICC World Cup and the ball he used to pick his first IPL hat-trick for Deccan Chargers against Mumbai Indians in 2009 will be featured in the collection.
NFTs, for those unfamiliar, allow users to own uncommon digital artefacts via the blockchain network that underpins cryptocurrencies. NFTs can be used to own all types of art, tweets, music, GIFs, and other digital goods. The options for purchasing and selling digital assets are limitless.
FanCraze has previously signed a three-year arrangement with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the rights to its extensive video and audio archive, which dates back to 1975. Thousands of NFTs tied to individual clips are being created by the company, which cricket fans will be able to buy in packs and sell on a secondary market, according to the release.
“We consider superstar athletes as artists who produce their best moments of beauty on the field of play,” stated Anshum Bhambri, CEO of FanCraze. We’re ecstatic to work with Rohit Sharma, a true cricketing genius, to create a new model of engagement between athletes and fans.”
“I’m looking forward to sharing some of my career’s most memorable events with my fans.” “I can’t wait to see the super-cool HitMan NFTs and 2D/3D avatars that the guys at FanCraze will be dropping in the months ahead,” Sharma concluded.
Thousands of people are bidding on these artefacts, and some are even selling for millions of dollars. According to a recent study from Cointelegraph, consumers have already spent over $9 billion on NFTs, with total sales likely to reach $17.7 billion by the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, Bollywood celebs such as Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, and Sunny Leone have joined the Bitcoin bandwagon.
Amitabh Bachchan’s recently launched NFTs, which included autographed vintage posters and a recitation of his father’s classic poem Madhushala, fetched Rs 7.18 crore ($966,000). The NFT series of 5 digital sketches by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra was auctioned for around Rs 2.8 lakh.
