Fandom Sports Media (FDM.C) started the necessary research and development required to mining non-fungible tokens (NFT’s) to better reward e-sports fans for their engagement on Fandom’s all ages prediction platform, according to a press release.
Without getting too far into the technical specifics, Fandom has decided to use the Ethereum blockchain to build their NFTss, and specifically use smart contracts on a particular protocol of the chain that will give them more of an opportunity to build-out their non-fungible contracts, giving their customers the ability to perform more than one complex task in a single transaction.
“Our development of NFTs for the Fandom platform through purpose-built deployments is an extension of previously publicized tokenization and blockchain development initiatives. Our development team is applying new tools and methodologies to increase the avenues of monetization accessible to Fandom while staying laser focused on increasing player satisfaction and interaction on the Fandom platform. Our commitment to developing and implementing innovative technologies across our ecosystem is a cornerstone of our platform strategy,” according to David Vinokurov, CEO and president of Fandom.
Here’s a helpful YouTube clip on what NFT’s are and what they are not. My apologies for the commentator, who seems to have all the charisma of a cat coughing up a hairball.
A non-fungible token is the functional equivalent of an ownership contract used for items that cannot normally be divided between multiple owners. So for things like real estate and car ownership, wherein regular contracts would require a chainsaw or a bulldozer or other such materials, we can simply divide ownership of these items in whatever percentage denomination we wish.
The pandemic hasn’t been good to many companies, but esports and other online gaming companies like Fandom can only stand to benefit from a population of bored, mostly unemployed former workers, forced to stay at home all day due to shelter-in-place edicts sent down from on high. And Fandom certainly has. They’re up over 300% in the past three months coming in at $0.29, up from their October low of $0.09.
NFTs will represent in-game assets and the user will be in complete control of how they’re used. They will give fans full ownership of their in-game rewards as well as exclusive items and giveaways. This gives access to trading on third-party marketplaces without permission from the game developer, ostensibly taking them outside of the realm of game-token and into category of crypto-collectible.
“The application of NFTs for Esports is relevant, accretive and value enhancing in a direct measurable way. The creation of unique, interoperable digital assets will create user incentivization, motivation and reward users with unique digital assets found nowhere else. The possibilities for unique branded content, give-aways, raffles and other incentives are endless and will diversify the portfolio of tools for monetization that Fandom will be deploying,” said David Vinokurov, CEO and president of Fandom Sports.
The company contends that this advance will drive a multi-million dollar revenue engagement on their prediction platform, increase user engagement and expose their customers to more in-app offerings.
—Joseph Morton
