100 Thieves' NFT Is Proof That Digital Collectibles Don't Have To Be A Scam
There may never be a way to separate the idea of a digital collectible from the Earth-destroying Ponzi scheme that is the NFT marketplace, but esports org 100 Thieves has made an attempt. Its recent NFT campaign goes to such lengths to distance itself from NFTs as we know them that it’s hard to understand why it needed to be an NFT in the first place. Buried beneath the obvious scams, exploitation of artists, artificial scarcity, cynical celebrity endorsements, massive carbon footprint, and gross speculatory investing, there’s still cultural value in digital collectibles waiting to be discovered. 100 Thieves NFT isn’t it, but it’s a step in the right direction.
The 100 Thieves 2021 Championship Chain NFT is a 360-degree animated model of the actual necklaces that 100 Thieves CEO Nadeshot gave to his League of Legends team after winning the 2021 LCS Championship. This is the esport equivalent of a commemorative ring that a hardcore Vikings fan might buy if they ever manage to win another Super Bowl. The difference is that it isn't a cheapo version of a priceless piece of jewelry - it’s a digital representation of it given to fans in the form of an NFT.
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100 Thieves didn’t get a ton of backlash over its NFT project last week the same way that Stalker, Troy Baker, or Worms developer Team17 did, largely because 100 Thieves didn’t call it an NFT. Despite being minted on the Polygon NFT platform and stored in a crypto wallet, 100 Thieves managed to obscure the fact that this virtual collectible is just like any other NFT.
In fact, the announcement does well to get out ahead of the common complaints about similar NFT projects. Three bullet points outline why you
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