How NBA Top Shot is Transforming Trading Cards into NFTs

enAugust 23, 2021

Most Innovative Companies

Podcast Summary

Cloud gaming democratizes gaming and blurs virtual-digital lines: Cloud gaming brings more accessible, subscription-based gaming experiences, while NFTs bridge virtual and physical worlds, transforming entertainment and commerce
The gaming industry is undergoing significant changes, with the rise of cloud gaming leading to a democratization of the gaming world and the blurring of lines between the virtual and digital realms. This shift is not only enhancing the gaming experience, but also having wider economic implications, as gaming becomes more subscription-based and accessible to a larger audience. Companies like Dapper Labs, which created NBA Top Shot, are leveraging new technologies such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to create innovative gaming experiences and bridge the gap between the virtual and physical worlds. These developments are creating new opportunities for businesses and transforming the way we engage with entertainment and commerce.
The gaming industry's economic impact and technological advancements: The gaming industry is a major economic player, with esports events offering huge prize money and gamers monetizing followings. Tech is revolutionizing sports with immersive experiences and blockchain could lead to decentralized gaming.
The gaming industry has evolved far beyond a simple hobby and is now a significant player in the economy, with esports events offering millions in prize money and popular gamers monetizing their followings through streaming platforms. Technology is also revolutionizing traditional sports by providing new ways for fans to interact and consume games, such as immersive virtual or alternative reality experiences. Additionally, the incorporation of blockchain technology could lead to decentralized gaming and the transferability of digital assets across different games. Overall, the way we consume gaming is set to change significantly in the next few years.
The Surprising Success of NBA Top Shot and NFTs: NBA Top Shot's success and the public's embrace of NFTs have led to massive growth for Dapper Labs, with over 1 million users and $700 million in sales in just eight months. NFTs have the potential to revolutionize industries like sports, music, and gaming by allowing users to buy and sell items under their control.
The gaming and esports industries have seen a massive surge in popularity, especially among the newer generation who prefer watching these events over traditional live sports. This trend was exemplified by the success of NBA Top Shot, an online marketplace for basketball collectibles using blockchain technology, which reached over 1 million users and $700 million in sales within eight months of launch. Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot, is now valued at over $7.5 billion and is leading the charge in the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which have exploded in popularity and have the potential to revolutionize industries like sports, music, and gaming. Dapper Labs' CEO, Roam Garagazlu, explained that while the progress on NFTs has been steady for years, the general public's embrace of NBA Top Shot and NFTs more generally has been surprising. He also noted that many users don't fully understand the technology behind NFTs but appreciate the benefits they offer, such as the ability to buy and sell items under their control.
Engaging NBA fans with unique digital collectibles: Top Shot, a digital collectibles platform on Flow blockchain, offers affordable NBA experiences, attracts various users, and provides real ownership of collectibles with transparency and real-world connections.
Top Shot, a digital collectibles platform built on the Flow blockchain, offers unique experiences for NBA fans with complete transparency and accessibility. While some items sell for high prices, the majority of transactions are affordable, making it accessible to fans of all levels. The platform attracts various types of users, from serious collectors to casual fans, and offers daily fantasy-like micro trading based on real-world events. Unlike traditional video games, Top Shot provides real ownership of collectibles. The transparency and accessibility of the platform, along with the real-world connections, make it an exciting new way for fans to engage with their favorite NBA moments and players.
Dapper Labs' Top Shot expanding beyond sports collectibles: Dapper Labs' blockchain technology enables third-party development, offering opportunities for games, real-world benefits, and sports league collaborations, aiming to expand beyond sports collectibles.
Top Shot, a digital collectible platform by Dapper Labs, is poised to expand beyond its current offerings in the coming years. The technology's transparency and accessibility through blockchain enable third parties to build various experiences and functionalities on top of it, including games, real-world benefits, and even engagement with sports leagues and teams. Dapper Labs' focus on sports is significant because it offers a unique opportunity for fan engagement, monetization, and value creation for both leagues and players. With deals already in place with various professional sports organizations, it's clear that Dapper Labs is dedicated to expanding its offerings in the sports collectibles space.
Bridging the gap between sports, entertainment, and technology: Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and Flow blockchain, is expanding its ecosystem to offer various digital experiences, bringing fans, organizations, athletes, and creators together using blockchain, and open to collaborations with third parties.
Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and the Flow blockchain, is not just focused on sports but aims to create a general-purpose platform for various digital experiences. They are bridging the gap between sports, entertainment, and technology by bringing fans, organizations, athletes, and creators together using blockchain. Dapper Labs is open to collaboration with third parties, allowing them to build on the Flow platform and reach a larger user base. The company ensures athletes receive a piece of the action through direct investments and partnerships. A recent investment in Genies, a 3D avatar company, marks a natural next step for Dapper Labs as they expand their ecosystem, offering users a wide range of digital experiences beyond sports.
Flow blockchain's diverse ecosystem: Flow blockchain is expanding beyond NBA Top Shot and Genies, hosting over 350 companies building NFTs, games, music products, and DeFi projects, attracting larger studios like Animoca Games and N Way.
Dapper Labs' Flow blockchain is not just limited to NBA Top Shot and Genies for digital identity and collectibles. It's becoming a diverse ecosystem for various blockchain-based experiences, including games, music products, and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. With over 350 companies building on Flow, there's a significant representation of NFT projects, crypto-native companies, and full-scale games. Notable mentions include the Olympics' first series of NFTs, fractionalization and collateralization projects, and the upcoming indie video game "Monsters" inspired by Pokemon. Even larger studios like Animoca Games and N Way are developing on Flow, showcasing its scalability and versatility. This ecosystem aims to provide a common thread for users' digital identities across different platforms, making it a significant player in the blockchain industry.
Blockchain goes beyond currencies with CryptoKitties: CryptoKitties demonstrated the potential of blockchain for creating tangible, useful applications beyond digital currencies, leading to the exploration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for games, social products, and intellectual properties.
Blockchain technology goes beyond just digital currencies. The creation of CryptoKitties in 2017 by Dapper Labs, through Axiom Zen, demonstrated this concept by allowing people to collect and breed digital cats as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This was a response to the mainstream buzz around cryptocurrencies and the numerous unrealistic promises made through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). The team wanted to create something tangible and useful on the blockchain, rather than just a fundraising pitch. The realization that most things in life are non-fungible and the potential for building various applications on the blockchain led to the exploration of the non-fungible token (NFT) center. CryptoKitties served as a demonstration of the potential for NFTs to build games, social products, and intellectual properties that wouldn't make sense outside of the blockchain world. While the roadmap from CryptoKitties to Top Shot and Flow was not explicitly planned at the time, the team's curiosity about the potential of blockchain technology with established IPs ignited further exploration.
Dapper Labs uses a compass for product development and partners with strategic entities: Dapper Labs focuses on open systems, partners with NBA for first product, and invests in ecosystem growth
Dapper Labs approaches product development with a compass rather than a map, focusing on the instinct that open systems offer greater ownership and reducing platform risk. Their decision to partner with the NBA for their first product was a strategic one, as the NBA's reach, reputation, and understanding of technology made for a perfect fit. Dapper Labs sees itself as a key player in the ecosystem, building unique content to attract users and sharing knowledge and experience to support the community. They are actively investing in other companies and aim to partner with educational organizations to promote crypto as an application platform.
Dapper Labs Aims to Make NFTs More Accessible: Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and Flow blockchain, is working to expand the NFT ecosystem by bringing in new creators and consumers, with potential for consumers to eventually become creators. Over 350 companies are developing new products and experiences on the Flow platform.
Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and the Flow blockchain, is aiming to make the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) ecosystem more accessible to a wider audience, with the goal of bringing in new creators and consumers. According to Dapper Labs' COO, Romeo Bosque, there are only a few thousand people worldwide who truly understand the potential of NFTs. Bosque sees Dapper Labs' role as the main catalyst for growth in this industry, with the potential for consumers to eventually become creators. The NFT community has already evolved from collecting digital cats to applying the technology to various domains of expertise, such as Athenian-style democracy and even Rome itself. The future looks bright for Dapper Labs and the NFT ecosystem, with over 350 companies developing new products and experiences on the Flow platform. We'll be keeping a close eye on this exciting development at Fast Company. Subscribe to our podcast on Itunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget to leave us a rating or a review if you enjoy the show. I'm Amy Farley, and our producer is Avery Miles.

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Favorite success quote or mantra:

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