Recently, Wout van Aert, a world-renowned cyclist that’s known for taking the top spot in races around the world, recently announced that he would be selling photos of three of his favorite wins as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Well, those NFTs have sold, driving tens of thousands of euros right into Aert’s pockets.
About the NFT Collection
The NFT collection featured three NFTs of the Jumbo-Visma leader, with each NFT featuring animated images of three of the cyclist’s favorite wins. These include his 2019 Strade Bianche win, his 2019 Mont Ventoux win, and his Champs-Elysées win at the 2021 Tour de France.
The three NFTs sold for 12.68 WETH, or wrapped Ethereum, a form of cryptocurrency, an ERC-20 compatible version of Ethereum. At the time of the sale, the total value worked out to about €47,002, which equated to $53,227 at the time this article was written.
Each NFT sold in the collection commanded a different price, with the Strade Bianche token grabbing the highest price tag at 4.48 WETH, the Ventoux win coming in second at 4.2 WETH, and the Champs-Elysées win token grabbing 4 WETH. Based on the
The Strade Bianche NFT commanded the highest price at £13,997 (4.48 WETH), while his Ventoux win cost £13,112 (4.2 WETH), and his Champs-Elysées win went for £12,484 (4 WETH). At the time of writing this article, a single WETH was worth $4,223.23, meaning that each of the NFTs sold for over $16,000.
Why Consumers Were Willing to Pay Such High Amounts for Three Digital Images?
This is the big question on everyone’s mind when they first dive into NFTs. Why are these digital images worth so much money?
The answer is a multi-part one:
An Investment In Sports Memorabilia
First and foremost, sports memorabilia is a hot market. According to Research and Markets, the global market for sports merchandise is expected to grow to be worth $49.8 billion by the year 2027, and its growth rate is strong at a CAGR of around 5.4%.
The digital assets sold by Wout van Aert are exciting pieces of memorabilia for his fans and fans of the sport of cycling. Keep in mind, in the cycling world, these three wins were massive, with one being part of the Tour de France. So, owning these images for cycling fans is like a boxing fan owning a digital image of the moment a world-champion heavyweight landed the knockout punch that won him the championship.
An Investment In History
The preservation of history is overwhelmingly important to the growth of society as we know it. This means that everything from culture, to politics, and lifestyle that can be minted as a piece of history could have value.
NFTs have been looked at by many experts as the next wave in the preservation of history, and for good reason. Unlike other pieces of art that can be damaged, are at the mercy of the environmental conditions in which they’re stored, and can be easily counterfeited, these digital collectibles live on the blockchain.
For those of you who haven’t looked into it, the blockchain is a digital ledger that’s completely decentralized, being managed by a massive network of individual computers around the world. Once a piece of art is stored on the blockchain, it can’t be damaged or stolen. Ultimately, it becomes a piece of history that’s more likely to stand the test of time than any other type of history preservation out there.
Rarity
The law of supply and demand suggests that when items are rare, yet in demand, they command higher prices. Should supplies increase and demand fall, the price of the item will fall as well. However, when it comes to the NFTs launched and sold by Wout Van Aert, rare is the name of the game.
Each NFT in the collection is unique. Moreover, unlike other collections that have hundreds, or even thousands of unique images, there were only three unique tokens included in the sale; and they just so happen to be the only three NFTs ever offered up for sale by the famed cyclist.
An Investment In Crypto
Finally, any NFT purchase isn’t just an investment in digital art, it’s an investment in the blockchain and cryptocurrency on which it lives. After all, the prices of these works of art are set in crypto, rather than fiat currency.
So, as the value of the cryptocurrency that represents the blockchain the NFT lives on increases, so too does the value of the art.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line here is that Wout van Aert, and the buyers that purchased his NFTs, have made history. With the sale of these three digital tokens, one of the first cycling NFTs has gone live, and done so in a very successful way. Moreover, those that purchased the collectibles now own a piece of history that has the potential to soar in value ahead.
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