What is NBA Top Shot?
The NBA Top Shot is a blockchain-based platform that has shot up in popularity in recent weeks, with sales of around $106.3 million recorded in the past thirty days alone.
The NBA Top Shot began as a joint venture between the NBA, the NBA Players’ association and Dapper Labs back in July 2019. It aims to combine the principles of cryptocurrency and traditional card trading to create virtual highlight reels that can be bought and sold by fans on the NBA Top Shot platform.
In this article, we look at the NBA Top Shot platform in detail, and try to trace the reasons for its huge recent popularity.
Everything you need to know about NBA Top Shot - What is this latest phenomenon?
The NBA Top Shot is effectively a cryptocurrency-based platform officially licensed by the NBA and the NBA Players’ Association that allows fans to buy and sell numbered versions of memorable league highlights called “Moments”.
Top Shot went live in October 2020, and was developed by Dapper Labs, who are well known for various cryptocurrency based platforms that they have worked on in the past.
Instead of cryptocurrency tokens, the platform allows fans to buy, sell and trade specific Top Shot moments in the form of video snapshots.
Various video snapshots are graded on the basis of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that allows fans to get an estimation of the overall value and rarity of the specific card/video snapshot, in addition of the proof of authenticity and ownership over the “asset.”
Since the platform has gone live, fans from all over the world have rushed in to get their hands on these specific Top Shot moments that are in reality valuable cryptocurrency based assets that can be printed out physically, and will increase in value digitally.
The platform has blown up in popularity since the turn of the year, with more than 6 million sales registered since January, and individual Top Shot moments rising up to around $750,000 in value.
The NBA Top Shot has introduced virtual cards featuring some of the best basketball players to have ever graced the league, with various Michael Jordan and Lebron James’ cards being traded for vast sums of money.
The Blockchain platform had earlier announced Tyler Herro as the brand ambassador, with his voice guiding the fans through the onboarding process when it viral for the 1st time.
The NBA Top Shot has been heralded as the future of traditional card-trading, something its’ recent increase in popularity and value of assets very clearly indicate. In recent weeks, a number of NBA players have gotten into the act including Portland Trail Blazers CJ McCollum, with the platform on its way to become a truly global phenomenon.