The digital world is evolving and growing to adapt to today’s trends, and FC Barcelona want to be a benchmark in this type of newly-created digital assets – NFTs – a product that has aroused major interest among collectors, in the digital realm. As part of this strategy, the Club has signed a new global partnership agreement with Ownix, a premium marketplace for NFTs based on the standards of the Ethereum blockchain, a platform for sharing data that cannot be manipulated or changed. This is an innovative alliance, with both institutions collaborating to make Barça NFTs based on photos videos featuring iconic moments from the Club’s history available to fans.
This alliance between FC Barcelona and Ownix will provide a new way for the Club to reach its followers from around the globe, as fans will now be able to acquire and own digital assets that will reproduce unforgettable blaugrana moments throughout the Club’s almost 122 year history via various auctions taking place throughout the season.
The agreement between FC Barcelona and Ownix is part of the Club’s global expansion strategy and a further commitment to seek out new channels and formats to connect with new generations, while providing a different form of interaction with their fans around the world.
What are NFTs?
NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) are unique digital assets that are unalterable. NFTs have been compared to pieces of art in the physical world. Of these pieces of art, there are the original copies made by the artist himself, which would have a value that will be marked by laws of supply and demand. After the creation of these originals, reproductions can be made, but these would no longer have the same value as the originals signed by the artist. This is why they are said to be non-interchangeable, as opposed to so-called ‘fungible’ assets that can be interchanged, similar to changing one 50 euro note for another given that they are of equal value.
NFTs work using blockchain technology and they are assigned a digital authenticity certificate, which cannot be modified and enables totally secure certification and traceability.
Through this new alliance, the Club will take iconic moments from its history to create unique digital assets, making them available for fans to collect.
Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, said, “Barça has a very large fanbase around the world and is leading the way in the digital domain with over 400 million followers in social networks. Given this scenario, the Club is constantly looking for new ways to connect with its fans, and we believe that creating these NFTs is a unique opportunity to continue growing and consolidating the Barça brand by bringing unique moments that have made Barça fans dream and FC Barcelona a well-known club on every level.”
Guy Elhanani, Ownix CEO, said, “As NFTs surge, we thought it is important to give those collectors who are Barça fans an opportunity to own a piece of their Club’s history. This new and exciting asset class allows collectors to own things that weren’t possible to own before, and we’re thrilled to offer sports fans an opportunity to spearhead the movement. Our Mission is to bring customers to purchase NFTs, not because they are marketable, but for the pleasure and pride of owning them.”