TOKYO (KSEE) — A NFT, or non-fungible token, is a unique and one-of-a-kind digital asset that can be bought and sold and while there may be no physical item exchanged, in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Games, many say they’re the next big thing.
“With NFTs, they are just instant and you trade globally with anybody online,” says Taehoon Kim, CEO and co-founder of nWay, the developer and publisher behind mobile games Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, and WWE Undefeated. Kim’s company was officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee to produce digital Olympic pins.
In a truly socially-distanced Olympic Games pin-trading, a popular tradition amongst fans and athletes alike, was a casualty. With NFTs, however, people can continue trading, even through a global pandemic.
“All of them have a serial number. Every single file is unique,” explains Kim. “Every single file can have an owner, and therefore it allows you to trade.”
These digital pins aren’t just from the 2020 Tokyo games. nWay has a heritage collection of NFT Olympic pins dating back to 1896 all in 3D.
“Physical pin trading, it’s been around for one hundred years, it’s going to continue to exist,” says Kim. “But I think there are going to be more people doing pin trading, because they are now available digitally.”
Olympic pin NFTs can run anywhere from $9 to $350 depending on how rare the asset is.
