Necaxa, a Mexican professional soccer club in Liga MX, will be auctioning its Bored Ape NFT and donating 100% of the proceeds to organizations that support Ukrainian refugees.
Apes for Ukraine
Necaxa was one of the first major soccer teams to jump onto the NFT bandwagon, having created the first NFT tied to ownership interest in a professional sports team. The Mexican club was also the first to enter the Bored Ape Yach Club with the purchase of a unique Bored Ape for the team.
Led by its Ukrainian owner, the team is looking to contribute to the plight of refugees coming from the war-afflicted country and sell the NFT they’ve owned since last year.
According to Al Tylis, the owner of the club, sports teams have a unique way of bringing people together and have a moral obligation to stand with the people of Ukraine and use their resources to help the plight of its people.
Originally from Donetsk, the capital of the disputed area of Donetsk Oblast, Tylis was the CEO of the North Star Asset Management Group and currently owns the New Zealand Breakers and G2 Esports alongside Necaxa.
In an interview with Sportico, Tylis said that he decided to donate the proceeds of the auction in cryptocurrencies and not its dollar equivalent. He hopes the move will further galvanize the NFT community and get the attention of other sports teams to follow suit and make their contributions to help Ukrainian refugees.
Bored Ape #7851 is expected to sell for around $300,000. The auction is taking place on OpenSea until March 20th, with the NFT listed for 80 WETH. At press time, the top bid stands at 85.01 WETH. Necaxa bought the Ape in November last year for 52.5 ETH, currently worth around $140,000.
Despite the potential size of the donation, Tylis said he knows the limits of what donations, in general, can achieve.
“Sitting back and watching while so many innocent people are suffering is just not something I can do. This is our small way of helping. Please consider how you can help as well,” he said.
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