Having launched an unsuccessful bid to become president of the Philippines last year Manny Pacquiao has come up with a slightly less ambitious venture. The boxer turned politician is releasing a collection of NFTs.
The NFTs in question all depict dogs in boxing stances. Supposedly the collection has been launched to commemorate Pacquiao’s beloved jack russell, Pacman, who died in 2020.
Pacquiao shared a link to the official website for the collection on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mannypacquiao/status/1536955168608362497?s=21&t=nhIrWuCAhi1r5ZfNLxutgg
Sold and traded
An NFT is a non fungible token. For the uninitiated that is a digital file, in this case a drawing of a dog doing boxing, whose ownership can be sold and traded.
Pacman, who was often seen running with the boxer, was killed in an accident in 2020. Someone run him over while reversing a car out of Pacquiao’s compound in General Santos City.
According to the newly launched website the senator wanted to see his dead jack russell immortalised on the blockchain,
“One sunny afternoon after the accident, Manny and I were sitting in a quiet cafe when I casually introduced him to the idea of the Blockchain and all the wonderful things the technology can bring. While elaborating on various technical details, I began to see Manny’s face suddenly start to glow ecstatically as if he’d been struck by some life changing epiphany. “Does that mean… Pacman can be forever?”, he stuttered with excitement. And so it came to be! Manny Pacquiao’s very own NFT collection in sweet memory of his beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Pacman,” he told the artist.
Bitcoin price
One year ago: $40,100
Now: $21,200
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) June 15, 2022
Bad week
It has been a bad week for digital assets in general. Cryptocurrencies are seeing their value plunge with the most popular, bitcoin, worth around 50% less than it was a year ago.
The NFT market has been hit hard too. Crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi spent $2.9 million USD on an NFT of Twitter boss Jack Dorsey’s first tweet hoping to sell it for a massive profit.
The NFT was listed for $48mn on an online market place with Estavi describing it as the ‘Mona Lisa’ of the digital world. But the highest bid was reported to be just $6,800 which underlines just how unpredictable the market for these type of assets can be.
Pacquiao is not the first sporting celebrity to put his name to a collection of NFTs. He is following in the footsteps of Serena Williams and Lebron James who have both looked to cash in on his this latest digital craze.
But any boxing fans thinking of parting with their hard earned cash in return for a digital drawing of Manny Pacquiao’s dead dog would be well advised to do a little bit of research into the NFT market before purchasing an asset which could turn out to be totally worthless.
