Even though the crypto market is suffering, NFTs or non-fungible tokens are still fetching tempting sums of money. OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, broke its monthly record last week with $3.5 billion in sales in January so far, only halfway through the month.
And a first NFT collection in particular has resurfaced in the last 30 days: NBA best shot, the NBA-licensed “moments” on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain.
In the NFT world, PFP (profile picture) collections like Bored Apes, Meebits, and World of Women garner most of the hype and headlines. But NBA Top Shot was widely seen like the t-serieshat started the mainstream NFT craze in March last year. Then the NFT market crashed last June, and when NFTs surged again in August after being declared dead, Top Shot had lost its luster. Many people in the NFT community considered Top Shot to be “NFT lite” because it was specifically aimed at attracting standards and allowed purchases with dollars.
Now it looks like he’s making a comeback, and he could thank NBA star Kevin Durant.
Secondary market sales of the collection are up 72% in the past 30 days, according to data from CryptoSlam, with $53.8 million in sales.
This week, NBA Top Shot launched a new TV and social media ad campaign featuring Durant, and is offering new buyers of the Top Shot Pack a free NFT Durant ‘moment’. For Durant, it’s the latest in a string of crypto promotions: He’s also signed on as an ambassador for Coinbase, in which he’s previously invested — and Coinbase became the official crypto exchange in October. NBA.
Meanwhile, Dapper Labs, the company behind the NFT Collection, has branched out beyond basketball.
This weekend, Dapper will launch Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Strike NFT collectibles, hit on Dapper’s own Flow blockchain and revolving around video footage of UFC events, similar to NBA Top Shot.
Dapper Labs also announced in September its long-awaited NFL version of Top Shot, called NFL All Day, which will arrive at the end of this NFL season. Whether the NFT clips will be as popular with NFL fans as they were with NBA fans remains to be seen, but it’s clear that more sports leagues are likely to be knocking on Dapper’s door to launch their own. version.
