WAX Strikes Merchandise Deal with Fnatic’s Esports Teams
The Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX) has officially partnered with the esports juggernaut Fnatic, an esports organization with top ranked professional teams in games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and Fortnite, in order to “distribute authentic digital collectibles and branded physical merchandise to global esports fans through WAX’s radically new blockchain e-commerce platform.”
If you’re a fan of our cryptocurrency podcast, The Coin Boys, you have heard us talk about WAX on many occasions. We’ve even had the pleasure of interviewing William Quigley, the CEO of WAX, on a few times. Feel free to take a listen to the interview above for an excellent introduction to WAX if you are not familiar.
This deal is a huge step into solving a problem for an industry that brings in 200 BILLION dollars a year. That problem is a way to give Gamers the ability to trade and own the content that Gamers spend their hard earned money on, without fear of being banned from the game or losing their account.
“We see this new kind of transaction experience as very forward-thinking, and it’s something we’ve been waiting years to try, since people are already very used to trading virtual items in the games they love,”
“With this initiative, we want to start to define, with our fans, what the future of collectible and cool fan memorabilia could be. We are proud to be the first esports organization, and one of the first brands, to offer this to our fans.”
Benoit Pagotto, brand director of Fnatic
“We built the WAX E-Commerce Blockchain Platform from the ground up to enable these kinds of innovative, new e-commerce experiences,”
“We’re excited to usher in this new form of e-commerce where fans can instantly receive, trade and share their favorite products and collectibles in-stream. This technology opens up all sorts of new avenues for engagement and monetization for streamers and their viewers.”
William Quigley, CEO of WAX
Per their announcement “To celebrate the partnership, WAX and Fnatic will be organizing hundreds of prizes and giveaways for fans before and during Fnatic’s “Legends in Action - Live” from Berlin this weekend including ‘legendary’ cut-and-sew custom Air Jordan shoes with unique Fnatic designs, merchandise autographed by the team’s pro players, pro gaming gear and more. All of which will be given away in real-time using WAX technology.”
Wow, this is great for introducing a new audience to blockchain technology as well as a fun thing for esports fans who are already familiar with the exchanging of digital assets through the blockchain.
“An entirely new line of Fnatic x WAX digital memorabilia and collectibles will be released during the live event. Fans who get these can sell, swap, store and gift these limited-edition items on their WAX ExpressTrade account - instantly and for free. That means that for the first time ever, esports fans can acquire branded physical merchandise from a team and its players, then trade those items with anyone else in the world without ever having to take physical ownership of it. Or, they can store the digital version of the item in their WAX account and have it shipped to them at a later time. The WAX Platform’s use of blockchain technology ensures each Fnatic x WAX item is 100% authentic and cannot be altered or counterfeited by a third party, which means that the digital versions of Fnatic products can now be used online in ways not before possible.”
So you will need a WAX ExpressTrade account, which is free to get but if you have no experience with blockchain digital assets you may want to play around with it ahead of the giveaway on January 13th at 6pm. It will be live streamed from Fnatic HQ right here (https://www.twitch.tv/fnatic) on Twitch.
This is definitely something to keep a close eye on, because this the trend we have been waiting for. Gamers and Crypto are a perfect match.
What do you think of this partnership? How do you feel about blockchain entering into the gaming industry? Leave a comment below, and be sure to subscribe, rate, and review The Coin Boys. The full episode of our introductory interview with WAX is easily accessible at the top of this article.
