With a series of tokenized collectibles showcasing National Hockey League (NHL) star Wayne Gretsky that went online on Monday, e-commerce giant eBay officially launched its first Non-Fungible Token (NFT) drop.
Gretsky, 61, is widely considered the greatest player of all time, having played in the NHL for three decades and winning four Stanley Cups. The Gretsky NFTs, which are one-of-a-kind Ethereum sidechain tokens that represent ownership, were created in collaboration with Sports Illustrated and the NFT platform OneOf.
There are 13 limited-edition digital collectibles in the collection, including green, gold, platinum, and diamond-tier NFTs. The NFTs are $10 each and include a 3D representation or animation of Gretzky making a famous move on the ice. Throughout the year, eBay aims to release other collections featuring more athletes.
eBay’s vice president of collectibles, electronics, and home, Dawn Block, commented on the dip, saying that NFT technology is “revolutionizing the collectibles industry” and that the company is working to introduce NFTs to popular collectors across the world.
When it comes to today’s debut, it’s not surprising, given eBay said last year that it would accept NFTs and introduce new features that would bring blockchain-based collectibles to its marketplace. eBay has a strong presence in online commerce, but it will face stiff competition from the hundreds of crypto native NFT marketplaces already available.
What Does OneOf’s CEO Have to Say About It?
“We are excited to partner with eBay, the largest and most trusted e-commerce platform in the world, to introduce NFTs and the power of the blockchain to eBay’s community of enthusiasts through a dynamic, user-friendly experience,” said Lin Dai, CEO, OneOf. “You don’t have to be a crypto expert to buy, sell, and collect NFTs. OneOf and eBay are bringing transformative Web3 technology to the next 100M non-crypto-native mass consumers.”
Tezos and Polygon are two blockchains that use a proof-of-stake consensus method.
