Sports stars and influencers embrace NFTs to unlock the next opportunity in the fan economy

Grab a Sharpie and some blockchain... NFT autographs have arrived. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are like one-of-a-kind trading cards, but digital. Instead of living in a glass case, they live on a crypto blockchain. Today, star gymnast Simone Biles released an NFT collection with Autograph, which makes NFTs signed by athletes like Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, and Tony Hawk. Buyers can trade the tokens in DraftKings' NFT marketplace — where a Naomi Osaka Autograph NFT is currently selling for $63K.

From Taco Bell-themed art... to the internet's original source code, NFTs can be tied to any digital asset. The first NFT hit the blockchain in 2014. Since then, people have sold NFTs of tweets, songs, and even Nobel Prize patents. Over the past year:

• NFT sales soared from $13.7M in the first half of 2020 to more than $2.5B in the first half of this year — a 200X increase.
• Celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, and even Edward Snowden, have all launched NFTs.
• Big brands aren't missing out on the non-fungible frenzy: Charmin rolled out a virtual toilet paper called “NFTP” (lol), Taco Bell's NFTacos sold out in 30 minutes, and Pringles sold virtual "CryptoCrisps" for $2 each — they're now selling for about $8K/tube.