Footballers are a rare breed.
They live and breathe glamour.
They date beautiful models.
They spend a fortune on luxurious cars, limited-edition sneakers and Rolex watches.
But now, they are spending riches on something new altogether.
Footballers are buying cartoon monkeys.
Yes, you heard that right.
Cartoon Monkeys.
Recently, Neymar Jr has purchased two new NFTs for his collection – both from the
same content creator.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club.
He purchased them using Ethereum – a form of cryptocurrency –
Neymar purchased the NFTs, which if converted to real money would be around $460,000.
But why are footballers spending thousands on cartoon monkeys?
Well, Profit is the name of the game.
People have made millions by flipping NFTs and now footballers are getting into the game.
However, we are moving too fast.
Let’s start from the beginning.
These Cartoon Monkeys are NFTs or Non Fungible tokes.
NFTs are digital assets that are bought and sold for large sums of money, just like a
piece of art or a football sticker or sports cards if that helps you understand.
NFTs can take different forms like monkeys, cats, dogs, pixels and even music.
I know it might still sound way confusing, but we’ll get there.
The money NFT that Neymar just bought is called the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the most high-profile NFT projects which comprises 10,000 monkeys
better known as Apes.
Each ape is different, with special features such as chains, glasses, cigarettes or caps.
They are now traded on OpenSea for eye watering sums of money.
For example, rapper Eminem bought one on New Year’s Eve for almost half a million dollars.
The Twitter feed of Chelsea defender Reece James is not particularly active, but when
he does post to his 740,000 followers, it is pretty much what you would expect of a
young footballer.
Among the on-pitch action shots and motivational captions, one recent tweet stood out.
James shared a picture of his new “Mutant Ape”, a NFT from Mutant Ape Yacht Club,
an off-shoot of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.
John Terry’s OpenSea account reveals that he holds 47 different NFTs across two different
accounts on the platform, including “Honorary Ape Kids Club” artwork of himself, his wife
Toni and two children as cartoon monkeys.
Many of these have been bought for thousands of pounds.
By far the most valuable NFT in his collection is a Mutant Ape.
Because all transactions are recorded, we can see how much Terry paid for this Ape.
He paid £23,400 for the NFT on Christmas Eve.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander Arnold also owns an NFT of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
Rapper Snoop Dogg, Basketball star Stephen Curry and famous American entrepreneur also
own Bored Ape NFTs.
Well, now you might be thinking, why would anyone spend thousands of dollars on these
pictures?
Well, it's not spending.
It's more of an investment.
NFT is the new internet or some might call it, something that can make you rich 5 years
down the line.
People have made millions by buying NFTs for a low price and then selling them for a higher
price.
It’s called flipping.
It has existed everlastingly—from the times of exchanging cards, toys, and comics for
profit, and we're currently seeing a colossal wave in the NFT space.
These footballers could make huge amounts by “flipping” their NFTs for more money
in a short space of time or prices could suddenly collapse.
Nobody can predict how the market will move next.
As well as owning an NFT of a cartoon monkey, holders also get “members-only benefits”,
including a “collaborative graffiti board” and the ability to purchase exclusive items
such as BAYC clothing.
A recent article in Input Magazine detailed a lavish party for BAYC owners in New York
City, featuring A-list entertainment like comedian Chris Rock and music from The Strokes.
These cartoon monkeys were initially sold for £200.
But now they are getting sold for massive amounts of money because celebrities have
started buying them.
The Premier League is considering the option of launching an NFT collection next season
and clubs including Manchester City and Rangers have already got in on the act.
Fantasy football game Sorare also used the technology for a fantasy football trading
card game and Premier League stars, including Andrew Robertson and Luke Shaw, have lent
their “brand” to NFT companies.
Bored Apes, though, are far too expensive for ordinary fans.
This is now an exclusive club for already very rich people, way beyond the means of
most football supporters.
It is too early to tell whether the Bored Ape phenomenon will turn out to be a fantastic
investment for these football stars or the peak of a speculative bubble that is about
to go pop.
But if it is the latter, the multimillionaire footballers will probably still be fine.
Less affluent fans who attempt to copy their heroes, however, may not be.
NFTs may be good investments but they are not something we can use on a day to day basis.
However, there are fan tokens that we can use.
But first and foremost, what is a fan token?
Fan tokens are a form of cryptocurrency that gives fans the right to vote on the operations
of the club.
Fans are also provided access to special merchandise, promotions, and games, among a few other benefits.
For example, the first poll conducted by PSG allowed fans to vote on the inspirational
message that goes on the armbands of the players.
Galatasaray allowed fans to choose the song that plays when the team enters the field,
while Juventus let them choose the song that is played when the team scores a goal.
The first poll by Barcelona will let fans pick the design of the mural that will be
used as decoration in the dressing room of Camp Nou.
There are many other such voting rights given by the clubs as well.
The crypto fan tokens can also provide monetary benefits.
If the demand for the tokens increases their price increases as well.
Fans can sell their tokens at rates that are higher than their buying price to enjoy capital
gains.
Just the way PSG fans would have earned after Messi got transferred to their club via the
PSG Fan Token.
Anyways, this is a vast topic and we can go on and on about this.
You tell us, Do you also dabble in crypto and NFT space?
Let us know in the comments.
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