The NFT craze has taken the world by storm, and the craze for this prized possession is increasing every day, with the latest entry being that of football superstar Neymar Jr.
If you are a football fan, you must have come across the name of Neymar Jr, a valuable player of Paris PSG. Being a famous name on the field for his splendid moves, the athlete has now entered the spotlight for claiming rights to a prized NFT fondly known among the community as the Bored Ape.
While the exact price paid by Neymar Jr is not officially known, experts predict that it is in the ballpark of $1.1 million.
Footballers Joining the Bandwagon
According to publicly available data, more than $40 billion worth of NFTs were transacted in 2021 alone, and now superstars and celebrities from all walks of life are joining the bandwagon.
Celebrity and Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr is most known for his spontaneous and well-timed moves on the field, which recently earned him a place in the well known Paris Saint Germain (PSG) team, and he is now soaking the spotlight for his acquisition of one of the hottest assets in the NFT space.
Fondly known as the Bored Ape, the digital artwork has been a hot property in the global NFT space since its inception. Created by Yuga Labs and hosting a collection of 170 entirely unique Bored Ape’s, the entire cohort (known as Bored Ape Yacht Club, BAYC) is estimated to be worth more than $3 billion. One of the most interesting aspects of the BAYC cohort is that each of the collection’s NFTs have been programmatically generated from several traits, and each of them features distinctly unique headwear, clothing and expression.
Due to this, Yuga labs has successfully curated and nurtured one of the most dedicated NFT communities in the world and has appreciated their price by leaps and bounds.
While the BAYC collection was famous on their own, the latest acquisition by Neymar has only contributed to the hype. As per sources, Neymar Jr purchased two separate NFTs from the BAYC collection and paid 159.99 ETH ($521,000) and 189.69 ETH ($624,000) subsequently for each.
Sources have additionally confirmed that the purchase was hosted by the OpenSea platform, which is by far the best NFT marketplace. Along with this, a clear indication of Neymar Jr’s identity was revealed when he used his customized “EneJay” wallet to make the payment which undoubtedly sports his initials.
Following the purchase, the superstar footballer took to his official Instagram account to make the announcement.
While the exact details of the transaction are not clear, the announcement indicated that Neymar Jr jointly participated with two other partners (footballers Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes from PSG) in the sale; however, he was the only one to post a photo of the same on his Instagram account.
One of the most interesting aspects of this entire transaction continues to remain the fact that now Neymar Jr and his partners will have exclusive access to both physical and digital events of this NFT, along with the commercial rights of the character.
While the exact use case of this is yet to be determined, experts predict that Neymr Jr can leverage his rights to create exclusive merchandise and other works starring the character. Along with this, holding the rights to this NFT can open doors to several VIP and high profile events across Los Angeles and Hollywood.
At first glance, Neymar’s purchase of this NFT may appear to be a one-off event; however, in reality, he has been gearing up his armour to enter this space for quite some time now. Remember his recent deal with NFTSTAR to develop, market and sell NFTs?
In Conclusion
With the completion of this transaction, Neymar Jr now owns two of the hottest artworks from the BAYC collection, the Bored Ape 6633 featuring a tuxedo, a hat and the signature expression of the collection and the Bored Ape 5269, which is by far the most expensive artwork of the cohort.
