Topps, the baseball card and candy company, is putting its latest series of collectible cards on the WAX Blockchain in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — digital assets that are moving in on the world of physical collectibles.
“We’re excited to be working with a venerable heritage brand like Topps to tokenize MLB trading cards for the modern collector,” said William Quigley, co-founder of Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX), a decentralized network for creating, buying, selling, and trading NFTs.
This isn't the first NFT and sport collectible crossover. NBA Top Shot, an officially licensed marketplace for digital basketball collectibles, consistently sees some of the highest daily sales volumes of NFTs on the web, according to cryptoslam.io.
As the official provider of Major League Baseball's licensed trading cards, Topps could play a similar role.
While WAX has a background in video games, it's now struck several partnerships aimed at digitizing physical collectibles, such as the popular Funko Pops figurines. Working with WAX, Funko launched its first NFTs in March at a starting price of $9.99.
The company is also partnering with Topps on the release of a Godzilla collection featuring imagery from the iconic franchise, which was recently revived with the release of Godzilla vs. Kong.
“We’ve been one of the first brands to fully embrace the potential of non-fungible tokens,” said Tobin Lent, vice president and general manager of digital at Topps, in a statement when the Godzilla collection was announced. “By partnering early with WAX and their state-of-the-art trading platform, we’ve been able to create a fun and accessible digital ecosystem for fans with all levels of experience."
Topps MLB collectibles will include 1,986 cards with 10 different levels of rarity. The official launch of the series will take place on Tuesday, April 20 at 1 p.m. ET.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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