Lionel Messi NFT Sold for $1 million on Ethernity

The current announced price surpasses $9 million

A Lionel Messi NFT has sold for more than $1 million on the Ethernity NFT marketplace. Created by BossLogic, the digital visualization depicts the footballer striking a golden ball while traveling on a piece of meteorite. Currently, the announced sale price for the NFT on the Ethernity platform is set to 3,000 ETH, which is more than $9 million. 

The one out of one golden edition NFT is part of a series of official Lionel Messi NFTs. The golden one, however, is the rarest and most expensive one for the moment. Other NFTs in the collection include a robotized version of the soccer player, as well as a piece titled “The King”.

Rumors that Messi was dropping an official NFT collection started circling around the time he confirmed his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. However, this is the first major sale from the collection. It is also the only one that has surpassed the $1 million mark so far. 

Interestingly, the Ethernity platform also allows users to purchase NFTs with their native token ERN. If collectors decide to do so, a portion of the purchase amount will be locked in a liquidity pool, allowing them to benefit from staking rewards. ERN staking is available to everyone, even if they don’t make purchases on the marketplace.

Ethernity dubbed the selection of NFTs “The Messiverse”. The platform also organized a series of raffles and reward events for collectors who bought Messi NFTs. For example, all owners of “The King Piece” NFT entered into a lottery-style draw to receive a signed Argentina T-shirt.  

Messi NFT attracts attention

The Ethernity platform is famous for dropping limited-edition, authenticated NFTs, and this latest collection is proof of that. However, Messi’s debut in the NFT world also attracted a wave of new collectors to the space.

As one of the biggest sports icons of our time, Lionel Messi has a huge fanbase. Interestingly, his fans’ dedication to supporting the player also pushed some of them to enter the realms of blockchain technology and NFT collecting. Check out Aman Dave:

This is only one example of the wave of sports fans who flooded the Ethernity marketplace following the drop. 

According to the official Ethernity Twitter account, the platform had to extend the sale of “Messiverse” NFTs by three hours, following “unprecedented demand”. The platform also accommodated non-native crypto users by releasing a series of informative and educational tweets and videos. These mini-guides explained the basics like setting up a crypto wallet for the first time. They also urged new crypto enthusiasts to contact customer support should they have any problems. 

This is a big dedication on Ethernity’s side, but it looks like the effort was worth it. Lionel Messi NFTs made a splash among the crypto and the sports communities, creating a bridge between the two. 

DappRadar will continue monitoring “The Messiverse” development. We’ll see if “The Golden One” Messi NFT sells for the speculative price of 3,000 ETH. 

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