The latest celebrity to join the NFT wave is boxing legend Mike Tyson, who tweeted his support for Ethereum-based Solana (SOL) and announced he had teamed up with TheDreamChain, Cointelegraph first reported on early Friday.
Tyson tweeted he was a “born-again Solano (SOL) proponent” along with a Catalina Whale Mixer NFT, priced at roughly $2,200 or 15 SOL with a similar championship belt and facial tattoos.
All in on Solana… Just copped a Catalina Whale… pow pow! pic.twitter.com/97voS15B8y
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) January 12, 2022
He tweeted,
“All in on Solana… Just copped a Catalina Whale… pow pow!“
The 55-year-old former heavyweight champion partnered with TheDreamChain, a cryptocurrency project aimed at focusing on mental health and wellness, and previously launched a separate, Ethereum-based NFT project on OpenSea last year.
According to TheDreamChain, the cryptocurrency is as difficult to trade as stock and $DREAM can only trade 9:30 and 16:00 EST, or stock exchange hours, to stress always-on trading has led to cryptocurrency traders facing mental health issues.
The website added,
“It’s the first of its kind that can only be traded during US stock market hours. Could revolutionize the space and help the mental health of the crypto community”
It added it would invest 0.5 percent of transaction fees to mental health charities and initiatives and further collaborate with non-profit organisations.
Sports Stars Join Solana NFT Projects
Tyson is one of many famous people promoting Solana, namely as the currency gains popularity in Metaverse applications.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)’s Mike Bisping also joined the NFT movement after partnering with the sports-focused Blockasset cryptocurrency, NFT Tales reported in October last year.
Blockasset aims to promote talent in sports and recently joined forces with Wayne Rooney, one of the world’s most prized footballers, who backed the platform’s Blockasset Legends initiative in January. Blockasset is set to induct Bisping as its second legendary sportsperson in the initiative.
Blockasset’s platform is based on the Solana blockchain, which has become a mainstay in the NFT market for its stability, low-cost fees, and fast processing, among others. The company launched its platform in July last year with five athletes, including UFC fighters Leon Edwards and Darren Till.
The NFT uses the $BLOCK token and may compete with an OpenSea token in the future as platforms develop their own native currencies, the report added.
Digital artist Dosbrak launched roughly 10,000 NFTs for Bisping as an additional three athletes join the Legends lineup in the near future.
Bisping, a UFC Hall of Fame inductee, was the first British fighter to claim the title of UFC Champion in 2016 and currently works as a sports analyst and commentator, according to reports.
Trends in Metaverse Gaming Cryptocurrencies
Speaking on the ongoing developments in the Metaverse crypto space related to gaming, numerous analysts have weighed in on the future of the industry, namely as cryptocurrencies rise in popularity.
In a statement to XR Today, Paul Rogash, Chief Executive of BetU, predicted cryptocurrency investors should remain cautious this year due to a “possible downward trend in the market similar to the cycle seen in 2018,” despite a surge of popularity in 2021
The CEO of BetU, a sports, e-sports, and crypto betting company based in the British Virgin Islands, stated the most impactful crypto projects in 2022 would be those that “consumers genuinely want to adopt and use,” adding,
“The crypto projects that will succeed through 2022 will be the ones with real demand and actual usage. The crypto gaming projects will need to turn their concepts and ideas into fully developed games with large player adoption”
Musicians, Firms Become Metaverse ‘Metanauts’
The news comes after legendary DJ and artist Steve Aoki launched a Solana blockchain-backed Christmas concert on Metaverse platform Monkey Kingdom.
Major industry supporters such as Snoop Dogg, Deadmau5 and others have backed NFTs, platforms, and virtual land sales to allow artists to monetise virtual content to generate new revenue streams.
To date, over $10 billion in NFTs were traded across the industry, with major brands such as Nike, Adidas, Marriot, Hilton Hotels, and Spatial creating their own Metaverse products.
