Porsche Enters NFT Market Launching Trading Card Platform Fanzone

June 16, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Chiliz takes to the track with Formula 1 fan tokens

May 22, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Chiliz

Socios now counts three racing teams in two leagues on their roster.

The popular ‘fan token’ reward and engagement blockchain Chiliz notched another win yesterday by signing a pair of popular European racing teams.

In a press release on Friday, Socios.com — a fan token app built on Chiliz — announced that Aston Martin Cognizant and Alfa Romeo Racing were the latest to launch tokens on the platform. Fan tokens have been used to distribute merchandise, create augmented reality marketing campaigns, and in certain instances allow fans to vote on things like team uniforms — a niche asset that has brought in over $150 million in revenues for Socios.

The Formula 1 teams weren’t the only wins for Chiliz this week, as they join NASCAR’s Roush Fenway Racing. The teams are among the first processional motor racing teams to experiment with blockchain technology — part of a growing number of sports and organizations using the tech to better connect with fans.

“Last week, in a single day, we announced five partnerships – from three different sports, across three continents – and now we’ve continued that momentum convincingly,” said Chiliz CEO Alex Dreyfus in a press release. “In the next few years a generation of passive fans will shift into active fans. That transition will take place through transactional fan engagement on our platform.”

While Chiliz has effectively cornered the fan token market, multiple platforms continue to battle over the NFTs, memorabilia, and collectibles space.

While Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shot currently reigns supreme with nearly half a billion in collectible basketball highlight sales (and has attracted multiple billions in VC investment as of late), though last month prices suffered a “silent crash” amid a market-wide NFT pullback.

However, other chains and platforms are fighting to attract sports licensing as well, such as WAX’s collaboration with the iconic TOPPs baseball trading card company — part of an ongoing battle between NFT platforms over high-value IP.

It’s Time: UFC to Launch Fan Token for Millions Around the World

May 6, 2021 Bitcoin.com

For sports fans, DOGE is starting to look like crypto’s real MVP

May 5, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Business

Mark Cuban said the Dallas Mavericks are selling more merchandise in a day with DOGE than in a year with Bitcoin or Ether.

In addition to its increasing attention from investors, Dogecoin appears to have found a niche following among sports fans.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Mark Cuban said that the people had “taken control of DOGE,” as evidenced by the tickets and merchandise sales he had seen since first offering the token as a method of payment in March. Prior to adopting the asset, the Mavericks had already been accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments through BitPay since 2019.

However, Cuban indicated that no other cryptocurrency had quite produced the numbers they've seen from Dogecoin (DOGE):

“We sell more Mavs merchandise for DOGE on a typical day [...] than we did in a year with BTC or ETH,”

Major League Baseball fans have begun to show similar enthusiasm in recent days. Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval announced this week that the franchise had sold two plaza infield tickets the same day the team said it would be offering them for 100 DOGE — roughly $46 at the time. In contrast, it took more than two weeks for a sports fan to cough up the BTC needed to pay for one of the stadium’s six-person suites. However, at 1 BTC, the price of the tickets was significantly higher.

At time of publication, the price of DOGE is more than $0.63, having surged significantly over the last week, month, and quarter to reach new all-time highs. Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital recently published a report referring to DOGE as “the most honest sh*tcoin,” while many expect Tesla CEO Elon Musk to pump the price of the token during his Saturday Night Live appearance this weekend.

All the attention from social media and news outlets regarding the token over the last several months may have demanded a lot from its co-creator Jackson Palmer. The San Francisco Bay Area resident’s tweets are now protected and his website’s homepage includes a message stating he does “not have any thoughts to share” on crypto or Dogecoin.

Speaking on Dogecoin's value as an asset, Mark Cuban said “DOGE is the ultimate in strength in numbers,” elaborating:

“It's the ultimate decentralized evolution. Rather than an edict coming from an ivory tower that defines value, the law of supply and demand are defined by an algorithm.”

Back in February, the billionaire referred to DOGE as the "lowest cost economics teaching tool available that entertains at the same time,” later jesting that he expects the coin's price to reach $1 should the Dallas Mavericks sell an additional 6,556,000,000 DOGE worth of merchandise. At its current price point, the asset needs only to rise another 59% to reach that milestone.

MLB team will HODL Bitcoin received from suite sales, says president

March 30, 2021 Coin Telegraph

baseball

“We’re believers in [Bitcoin] and hopefully it continues to go up and maybe we can find some big free agents with some of the proceeds.”

Dave Kaval, president of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics, says the ball club will be HODLing any Bitcoin that fans pay for luxury seats at the team ballpark in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, Kaval said no baseball fans had yet taken advantage of the opportunity to buy a full season, six-person suite for the home season for 1 Bitcoin (BTC) since the deal was first announced on March 15. Though the A’s club president said he was still hopeful “two or three” people will buy tickets for the ten suites available, he also clarified that any crypto received from purchases wouldn’t be converted into fiat right away.

“We’re gonna hold it,” said Kaval. “We’re believers in [Bitcoin] and hopefully it continues to go up and maybe we can find some big free agents with some of the proceeds.”

The BTC price dipped to $51,000 since the initial sales announcement, meaning crypto users who purchased the suite at just the right time could have saved more than $13,000 compared to the regular full season fiat price of $64,800. The price of the crypto asset has since returned to more than $57,000.

Kaval said part of the reason for the change to selling the tickets in crypto was the baseball club offering “something unique and different.” Though he said the A’s would not be accepting other tokens like Ether (ETH) or Dogecoin (DOGE) this week, there is the possibility of doing so in the future.

“We’re focused on just Bitcoin for now, but I think if it catches on, and we get interest, we are open.”

Bitcoin sales for the suites will still be accepted before April 1, when the Oakland A’s first game is scheduled against the Houston Astros. Though the status of the game may still be subject to change depending on COVID-19 cases in the state, at the time of publication, roughly 9,400 baseball fans are expected to be allowed at the A’s RingCentral Coliseum on Thursday — less than 20% of the 63,132 people when the venue is at full capacity.

Many Major League Baseball players have also become involved in the non-fungible token market. Last month, former MLB player-turned artist Micah Johnson sold $1 million worth of tokenized art in just one minute on Nifty Gateway.

Pro Baseball Team the Oakland A’s Plans to Hold Bitcoin Obtained from Ticket Sales

March 29, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Crypto .com launching NFT platform with exclusive content from artists

March 23, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Artists

"NFTs are a super exciting way to forge deeper bonds with my supporters," said musical artist Alex Mansoor.

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto .com will be launching a non-fungible token platform this Friday featuring content from major artists, athletes, and musicians.

In an announcement today, Crypto .com said it would be introducing a non-fungible token, or NFT, platform with exclusive content from famous artists and musicians. Anyone — not just Crypto .com users — will be able to buy, trade, and resell NFTs featuring work from Snoop Dogg, Boy George, Klarens Malluta with Lionel Richie, Mr. Brainwash, OPUS, BossLogic, Axel Mansoor, KCamp, KLOUD, Aston Martin Cognizant Formula OneTM, and others.

“From live-streaming to AR/VR and drop-in audio, I’ve always loved exploring how new technologies can change the way that my music is experienced,” said Mansoor. “Technology is at its best when it’s helping us connect to each other in innovative ways, and NFTs are a super exciting way to forge deeper bonds with my supporters.”

Joe Conyers III, the former chief strategy officer of Downtown Music Holdings in New York, will be leading the new Crypto .com venture. Some of the work from the famous artists and musicians will drop on March 26, with the platform allowing users to pay with over 20 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE).

The introduction of celebrities and major non-tech figures into the crypto space isn’t always a bullish indicator. Though Rapper Snoop Dogg and Kiss’ Gene Simmons may have helped the price of DOGE surge to an all-time high last month, the price of Bitcoin didn’t seem to budge when actress Lindsay Lohan tweeted the crypto asset was going “to the moon.”

Crypto .com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszale has said he aims to increase the number of users on the platform from its current 10 million to more than 100 million by 2023.

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