Crypto collectibles

One really awesome application of the blockchain is non-fungible tokens or NFTs. In short, they are crypto tokens which are meant to be unique. Naturally, a great application of NFTs is for collectibles such as art, virtual trading cards, etc.

I’ve been a beta user of NBA Top Shot since last July. NBA Top Shot is a platform that allows users to buy virtual trading cards on the blockchain. The company has partnered with the NBA so everything is properly licensed. Each “moment” is a NBA play or event featuring one player. For example, you can aim to collect one of the 5,000 moments of Steph Curry hitting a 3 pointer or the limited 10,000 moments of a sweet Draymond Green assist.

The name of the game here to create value is scarcity and NBA Top Shot achieves that by limiting the amount of moments they create. Users can buy packs of moments at special release dates. Each pack contains multiple and random moments so you may be lucky enough to draw one of the “legendary” moments or just get average common moments.

The platform comes with a marketplace where you can buy and sell specific moments to complete your collection.

Unfortunately despite being a user since July, I sat on it and never went out to buy any packs or moments. Yesterday, I finally caved and waited in the queue to buy the “Cool Cats” pack.

I honestly had a lot more fun than I expected. I was like a kid again collecting trading card/pokemon card packs. This time though, I can see the real value of each of the cards I collected in the marketplace and aim to sell it. I wish my childhood had the blockchain for my Pokemon card collection days.

I’m not positive where NFTs like moments in NBA Top Shot will be in the future. I hope I can view my moments as investments long-term but realistically this could all be a fad that fades before it picks up steam.

Given that, I am bullish on the future of NFTs and think there are many other applications out there. Simply put, everything is going digital and it’s naive to think collectibles won’t follow that trend.

NFTs are one of the best applications of the blockchain that I’ve seen so far and I’m excited to continue to participate in this even though my “investment” may not materialize in the long run.