One of the most popular soccer players of all time is launching his first non-fungible token collection Friday. Here are the details on the drop.
What Happened: First announced in June, Cristiano Ronaldo signed a partnership with cryptocurrency platform Binance.
The company said it would provide fans of the Manchester United PLC MANU star with a “compelling entry point” into Web3 and NFTs at the time.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the world's best footballers and has transcended sport to become an icon in multiple industries,” Binance founder and CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said at the time. “We are thrilled to provide his fans with exclusive engagement opportunities to connect with Ronaldo and own a piece of iconic sports history.”
Ronaldo noted then that the partnership would change the NFT game and “take football to the next level.”
“It was important to me that we created something memorable and unique for my fans as they are such a big part of my success,” Ronaldo said this week. “With Binance, I was able to make something that not only captures the passion of the game but rewards fans for all the years of support.”
The initial NFT collection went on sale Friday, Nov. 18. The NFTs feature iconic moments from Ronaldo’s career represented by animated statues. The NFTs have rarity levels of Normal, Rare, Super Rare and Super Super Rare.
The rarest NFTs will be auctioned off in 24-hour sales with the 5 Super Super Rare NFTs starting at 10,000 BUSD BUSD/USD, or around $1,700. The 40 Super Rare NFTs start at auction at 1,700 BUSD.
The 5,000 Normal rarity NFTs are being sold for 77 BUSD, or $77. The 600 Rare NFTs will also be sold in a non-auction format.
Perks included in some of the rarer NFTs include personal messages from Ronaldo, autographed merchandise and access to future NFT drops.
“We believe the metaverse and blockchain are the future of the internet,” Binance co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer He Yi said. “We are honored to collaborate with Cristiano to help more people understand blockchain and showcase how we are building Web3 infrastructure for the sports and entertainment industry.”
Additionally, Binance is offering free Ronaldo mystery boxes that may include Ronaldo NFTs to the first 1.5 million people who sign up for Binance and KYC (know your customer) by providing their details.
Future Ronaldo NFTs will launch in early 2023.
Related Link: Want To Know Who Will Win The 2022 World Cup? Video Game That Predicted Last Three Winners Says This Team
Why It’s Important: Ronaldo is the most followed person on social media in the world. On Instagram, a platform owned by Meta Platforms Inc META, Ronaldo has 497 million followers. This is more than 100 million ahead of the next most followed person, Kylie Jenner, on the platform.
On Twitter, Ronaldo ranks as the sixth most-followed person with 104.8 million followers.
The NFT drop coincides with the 2022 World Cup with matches beginning on Sunday, Nov. 20. Ronaldo will play for Portugal in his record-tying fifth World Cup next week.
Ronaldo’s club team Manchester United recently announced plans to launch NFTs through a partnership with Tezos XTZ/USD.
Sorare, a sports and entertainment platform with digital player cards, had a Ronaldo NFT sell for $400,312 in November 2021.
Read Next: Manchester United Digital Collectibles (NFTs) Coming Soon: Here Are The Details
Photo: Кирилл Венедиктов via Wikimedia Creative Commons
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