coindesk.com
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) have become an increasingly popular means of personal branding for athletes. Now add National Football League (NFL) star Dez Bryant and his stats to the mix.
The former all-pro wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys is tapping oracle platform Chainlink to bring “dynamic” NFTs to Personal Corner, a platform Bryant founded to help athletes build virtual brands after a video game epiphany in 2016.
“I was sitting back playing [NBA 2K], thinking, ‘Man, you can buy your player their own digital clothes, shoes, everything,” Bryant told CoinDesk in an interview. “I thought, what if athletes could offer something like this to their fans for them to own. We’ve been on a mission ever since.”
Dynamic NFTs use Chainlink data feeds to change their appearance, in this case according to player performance. So if a player reached a milestone for touchdowns or receiving yards, for example, the NFT could adapt to reflect the progress.
This isn’t the first time a high-profile athlete has turned to the technology to add some flair to tokens – National Basketball Association phenom LaMelo Ball tapped Chainlink in June for his debut NFT collection released before his Rookie of the Year nod.
Read more: If LaMelo Ball Wins NBA Rookie of the Year, This NFT Gets Rarer
Bryant believes dynamic NFTs could change the way athletes build relationships with their fans, providing a more engaging medium than static physical collectibles.
NFL staples Trevon Diggs, Maxx Crosby, Von Miller and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown are among the early partners in Bryant’s platform.
The platform’s debut NFT collection, Juggernauts, was released on Sept. 9 and has logged trade volume of 30.3 ETH (about $92,000 at press time).