Crypto has finally gone mainstream. Spurred by a global pandemic that forced most of the world’s population indoors, the fact that cryptocurrencies can be traded from anywhere in the world eluded trading activity restrictions imposed by local governments as part of lockdowns.The price of Bitcoin prior to the pandemic was $7,300. Today, the very same token costs $42,044.00. Built on the same technology as Bitcoin, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) had a very big 2021. Hailed as some sort of great disrupter, NFTs have generated considerable hype while extending its potential impact on many industries including, but not limited to, finance,art, luxury goods and perhaps surprisingly,sport. Sports fans who missed the spectating and active participation in their respective sports and have always been partial to collectibles gravitated towards NFTs and cryptocurrency with important developments in the sports-crypto space including NBA Top Shot,an NFT marketplace, using blockchain technology to produce a product that works like trading cards, only with NBA highlights,called moments and digital artwork. A LeBron James jumpshot sold for $200,000. 
Long before anybody saw the utility of NFTs or the ability to transform fans from passive watchers to active influencers not just in sports but music and the media,the Jetcoin Institute did. Launched in 2015, this foresight permeates their ethos as their focus is on recruiting and empowering young and up-and-coming talents as opposed to most sports start-ups that tend to focus on already established teams and talents where although there is lower volatility and risk,growth is marginal with no exceptional returns expected. This is something important to note especially in industries like sport where careers tend to be short-lived. The fact that there’s a small window of opportunity to maximise success creates a situation where these rising talents turn desperate and can easily be exploited by talent management. This is something founder Eric Alexandre seems to have witnessed in his career within branding,events and the show business industries. He founded the institute in order to assist talents looking to break into sports, music or media. The institute allows the talents to focus on their careers by providing funding for talent development through crowdfunding. The talents release IP rights to the institute which then crowdfunds by selling NFTs. These NFTs can only be purchased using Jetcoin. Jetcoin($JET)is an ERC-20 and BEP-20 token. It runs on the Ethereum and BINANCE Smart Chain blockchains simultaneously. It has a maximum supply of 80,000,000 tokens and is currently listed on
Pancake Swap
Fork Delta
Bitcratic
JetCoin has multiple use-cases. Token holders have voting power and can influence which talents the institute decides to invest in. Selling of $JET is a source of funds for the institute. Fans who purchase $JET benefit from the future income of rising stars, incentivising them to basically become social media managers directly impacted by the success of the rising star. Fans also receive their equivalent of dividends in $JET. Jetcoin is also used to buy merch.
JET NFT CARDS
JET NFT cards are minted on the Ethereum MainNet and are only available for purchase on the mintable.app marketplace. The store already contains NFTs of various Serie A players that the Jetcoin Institute has been sponsoring since 2014.
JET NFT cards are unique in that they are not limited to photo stills or artistic portrayal but rather they have interactive features(text,photos and videos) and can have rewards updated or airdropped onto them. This content can be viewed on JET viewer,developed by CTO Jay Vansadawala, which enables flawless interaction when connected to a wallet such as Metamask. The possibilities of these cards are endless.Similar to NBA Top Shot moments,the NFT cards could soon host videos of iconic goals,performances etc. It's easy to think that the value of these NFTs is eventually erased because many goals are scored in one’s career but an example of sustained value is the NFT representing the moment Andy Murray won the Wimbledon in 2013 selling for $177,777 in July 2021. The NFT came with two tickets to the 2022 men’s Wimbledon finals,a chance to play Tennis with Murray and signed souvenirs. This goes to show that NFTs could be the gift that keeps on giving.
It is not limiting to provide sport-specific rewards because not only is football the most popular sport in the world but crowd funding seems to work best when it’s targeted towards fans of the product.
The health of a player reflects value. Singapore-based start-up Engin created an NFTproject,Health Hero,a well-being NFT that you link to tracking devices and apps such as FitBit and Apple Health. It isn't far-fetched to think that JET NFTs could eventually be routinely updated with the health stats of its rising talents, keeping investor- fans instantly updated with their 'investments' with the NFTs of the healthiest players increasing in value.
Since 2019,the project has kept a low-profile to focus on the tech. This came to an end with JetCoin obtaining sleeve sponsorship rights for Huddersfield Town A.F.C in an FA Cup match which they won against Burnley played on 8th January,2022.
This game,aired live in 38 countries, is the exact kind of global exposure needed to get Jetcoin back into the conversation. In my opinion,NFTs are yet to see their full potential. And with the continued growth of the spectator sport sector,whoever can revolutionise the fan-talent relationship the best,wins. The Jetcoin institute attempts to lead the way.
