How a clip of Andy Murrays historic Wimbledon win sold for over a crore via NFTs?
Britain's Andy Murray celebrates winning the men's singles second round match against Germany's Oscar Otteon day three of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday June 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)  The craze for sporting memorabilia has gone digital. Athletes and organisations worldwide are cashing in on their significant victories and spectacular highlights by launching NFTs  blockchain-based unique digital collectibles with a simple mantra: scarcity equals value. And the rarer the win, the better. Ask Andy Murray, whose moment of ending Britains 77-year wait for a mens champion in 2013 fetched a Rs 1.32cr on Monday. That amount got the buyer the video clip of Murrays match-winning point. Other sports collectibles NFT on sale include pins, posters and highlights. Mind you, unlike tangible collectibles such as jerseys, trading cards, balls and bats to be displayed in a showcase, these limited-edition NFT images, videos and artwork are only available as a digital asset. Those buying can claim the ownership even if there are multiple copies of the same clip or image available online. Essentially a digital collectible, NFT stands for non-fungible token, which means non-replaceable. Unlike cash or bitcoin  which are fungible assets and can be interchanged with something of equal value, like other currencies  an NFT has unique properties and cannot be traded with something else. Think of it as a one-of-a-kind trading card which you can only trade for money or a different card. Or Mona Lisa. Once you sell it, its gone. You can take photos or duplicate prints of the painting, but it wouldnt be the original. Britains Andy Murray plays a return to Canadas Denis Shapovalov during the mens singles third round match on day five of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday July 2, 2021. (AP) Britains Andy Murray plays a return to Canadas Denis Shapovalov during the mens singles third round match on day five of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday July 2, 2021. (AP)  They are digital assets which can be bought and sold but have no physical form. While digital media files (jpeg photos or animated gifs) can be saved and duplicated endlessly, buying an NFT means you have a certificate of ownership for the original artwork. Though they have been around since 2014, NFTs took off last year along with the crypto craze with their market value tripling and crossing $250 million. In the first quarter of 2021, the NFT sales exceeded $2 billion. In February, an animated meme Nyan Cat sold for approximately $590,000. In March, Twitters founder Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2,915,835.47. Artists, musicians, film studios and even academics have tapped into the world of NFT. Earlier this month, the original source code for the world wide web was sold as an NFT for $5.4m. Two former Wimbledon champions announced their forays into NFTs during this years tournament. On Monday, the moment of Andy Murrays 2013 Wimbledon win was auctioned for $177,777, with Reuters reporting that an NFT enthusiast known as Pranksy claimed to be the buyer. Though they will not own the copyright of the video clip they bought, the buyer will receive as bonuses a small digital screen to play the video, two tickets to Centre Court for the 2022 mens Wimbledon finals, a chance to play tennis with Murray and signed souvenirs. In addition to the main moment, WENEW also sold more than 600 limited-edition NFT collectibles  capturing other short clips like his trophy lift, interview, 2012 runner-up speech, and shot highlights  priced between $49 and $4,999. Im still learning about NFTs but it feels like an exciting area and one Im sure more athletes and content creators will be getting involved in, the former world No. 1 told Reuters. Last week, tennis legend Bjorn Borg put on auction an NFT titled No Time to Think  a 3D digital sculpture (signed by Borg) interpreting the Swedes emotions upon winning the 1980 Wimbledon final against John McEnroe. For me to be involved with those emotions again with technology and art together, I think thats very interesting, Borg, 65, told Bloomberg. Its a new area for me. But I think this is definitely going to be part of the future.  I am so excited to enter in the world of crypto & blockchain, I am launching my NFT in collaboration with @TenupNation . Lets move to the future world with #ShoaibAkhtarNFT . pic.twitter.com/Ji2EvC0g5C  Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) June 19, 2021  In June, former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar also announced the launch of limited-edition collectibles. Teams, leagues and organisations around the world are putting up NFTs for sale. The NBA kickstarted the revolution with reported earnings of $500 million in the first quarter of 2021. Through the Top Shot NFT marketplace, basketball fans can purchase video highlights and trade with others. In April, a LeBron James dunk highlight was secured for $387,600 through an auction. The Golden State Warriors later began issuing their own collection of digital championship rings and ticket stubs. Football collectibles are also on sale, with a platform called Sorare enlisting worlds top clubs. Through Sorare, a user called camembert bought unique Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo NFTs; the latter for $289,920. WOW!  Congratulations to FC Camembert who has just smashed our #Sorare Market record. The Unique 2020-21 Cristiano Ronaldo card was bought for $289920 on the Transfer Market. #OwnYourGame  Season: 2020-2021  Serial: 1/1  Price: $289920 pic.twitter.com/unLS9aXaN1  Sorare (@SorareHQ) March 14, 2021  I would personally never buy a Picasso but I was very happy to invest $300,000 in my idol, the buyer posted in the feedback section. Last month, the International Olympic Committee made available digital versions of past Olympic pins, featuring the posters, emblems, pictograms, and mascots from previous editions. Those interested can buy packs of pins priced between $9-$499 depending on the rarity. Of course, IOC is also banking on the subset of hardcore fans  pin-traders who travel from host city to host city, looking to trade pins with other collectors. There are the usual fears associated with a market of rapidly-rising prices. With buyers splurging big on virtual items, theres the risk of big losses of the speculative bubble bursts. The NBA Top Shot prices and sales have plunged, with the February-April sales decline at 60 per cent. The biggest criticism however is the NFTs impact on the environment. The blockchain technology which ensures ownership of a collectible  and functions similarly in the cryptocurrency network  has been under fire for its massive energy consumption and carbon footprint. In February, researchers at Cambridge said that the crypto network consumes around 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year  an electricity consumption more than Argentina (121 TWh), the Netherlands (108.8 TWh) and the United Arab Emirates (113.20 TWh).