**Candy Digital Drives Adoption and Consumption in Web3 with Sports NFTs**
*The Rise of NFT Trading and the Future of Digital Collectibles*
In the last bull run of the crypto market, NFT trading soared and the NBA Top Shot collection raked in over $200 million in monthly trading. However, the CEO of digital collectibles startup Candy Digital, Scott Lawin, believes that the rampant speculation that fueled this growth may never return. Despite this, the company remains optimistic that sports fans’ love for their favorite teams and players can still drive adoption and consumption in the web3 arena.
**Introducing 100,000 New Customers Through Digital Ticketing**
Scott Lawin revealed that the company’s strategy to onboard 100,000 new customers to the Candy Digital platform is through their digital ticketing product. According to Lawin, this is an effective way to introduce someone to the space as they are expressing their fandom by purchasing a ticket and attending a game. These customers then get an opportunity to obtain a digital asset that records their experience.
**First-time NFT Owners Snag Tickets at Baseball Games**
Candy Digital not only sells officially-licensed Major League Baseball collectibles, but also offers fans commemorative tickets. Lawin predicts that through the commemorative ticket campaign, Candy Digital will introduce another 250,000 to 500,000 consumers to digital asset ownership by 2024. He noted that most people who visit Candy Digital’s platform after attending a baseball game are engaging with web3 for the first time, and are excited by the opportunity to redeem a digital, commemorative ticket and purchase a pack of digital trading cards.
**Transforming NFTs and Digital Collectibles**
While the interest in NFTs and digital collectibles has transformed since the bull run, well-funded web3 companies like Candy Digital and Dapper Labs continue to target sports fans with digital memorabilia NFTs. Candy Digital recently launched its Major League Baseball NFT marketplace, while Dapper Labs set the standard for sports NFTs with its NBA Top Shot collection, which exceeded $200 million in trading volumes in early 2021.
**The Fading Speculative Market**
Lawin acknowledged that the speculation-driven market has faded and admitted that the heady days of the 2021 bull run are unlikely to return anytime soon. He stated that while he is confident in the potential of blockchain-based digital assets to revolutionize sports memorabilia, he does not expect to see $200 million of trading each month for NFT collections like NBA Top Shot. Nonetheless, Candy Digital raised $38.5 million at the start of 2023, adding to the $100 million it raised in October 2021 at a $1.5 billion valuation.
I have over 10 years of experience in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. I have attended numerous conferences and events around the world, and my work has been featured in major publications such as CoinDesk, Bitcoin Magazine, and Yahoo Finance.
