Candy Digital and Getty Images to launch unique collection
Candy Digital – Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) exploded onto the scene in 2021, with thousands of companies leveraging on the trend.
Although many initiatives focused on providing original digital assets, Candy Digital seized on one of the most popular sports in the United States by developing a collection centered on Major League Baseball.
They created the official line of MLB NFTs, which debuted in 2021.
Candy Digital, having established itself as a pioneer in the NFT space, is launching a new line.
This time, though, they want to collaborate with Getty Images to develop an NFT collection in the hopes of scoring another massive success.
The collection
Candy Digital produced a selection of photographs after searching through Getty Images’ enormous stock photo database.
They want to focus on some of the most famous musicians from the 1970s, as well as the photographers who captured their images, for the collection.
James Brown, John Lennon, and Elvis Presley are among the luminaries they hope to digitize.
One of the most interesting aspects of the impending collection is that it is grouped around six photographers, such as David Redfern and Fin Costello, rather than musical talents such as Jimi Hendrix or the Rolling Stones.
Also, the collection is not restricted to a specific number of items.
The newest Candy Digital collection will be available as an open-edition mint on March 21.
It also comes after Candy Digital and Getty Images announced a collaboration in May 2022.
Potential customers will be able to purchase the collectibles, which range in price from $25 to $200, during a months-long mint availability window.
The partnership
Candy Digital has previously created collections focusing on sports and entertainment.
It struck agreements with Netflix and World Wrestling Entertainment.
The Getty Images partnership, according to CEO Scott Lawin, is aimed at music and photography aficionados.
“We’re really excited about the fact that we’re talking to a different type of audience,” he said.
“The way we’ve thought about our partnerships, it really is creating opportunities for people not to just go deep in a category that they love, but also discover and collect across different types of content and IP.”
According to academic studies, sports enthusiasts are the best audience for digital asset ownership.
Lawin, on the other hand, defined Digital Candy’s cooperation with Getty as a long-term relationship that he and the team hope to expand on over time.
They also mentioned that the Getty collection has millions of pictures spanning decades and covering a wide variety of subjects.
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The firm
Michael Rubin started Candy Digital in June 2021.
Fanatics, a sports franchise firm, is led by Rubin, who is joined by NFT entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck and Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz.
Fanatics was a majority stakeholder of Candy Digital due to Rubin’s participation.
Months after its debut, the company boasted a $1.5 billion value by October 2021.
It also reported at the time that it had received $100 million in a Series A round from Insight Partners and Sofrbank’s Vision Fund 2.
Despite its success, Candy Digital was hit by crypto winter.
Sportico claimed in November that it had cut off more than a third of its 100-person workforce.
Other NFT markets, such as OpenSea, as well as NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day developers Dapper Labs, were also laid off.
A change in the winds
Fanatics sold more than 60% of its majority ownership in Candy Digital to a group of investors in January.
Galaxy Digital headed the group, which also included ConsenSys Mesh and 10T Holdings, an equity firm.
Michare Rubin said in a Fanatics document that NFTs are unlikely to survive as a separate business in a collapsing NFT market where transaction volumes and pricing for independent NFTs are falling.
While their perspectives differ, Scott Lawin believes Fanatics was a terrific partner to begin the adventure with since they leaned first into the sports area.
He went on to say that the sale was a logical progression in a difficult market.
Trading
While NFTs may be exchanged on a variety of platforms, Candy Digital NFTs are only available on Palm, an Ethereum sidechain.
Yet, Lawin believes that the restriction will be lifted in the long term.
“Part of our roadmap [is] to allow our customers to take custody of their assets and potentially trade those in different marketplaces,” he said.
“It isn’t going to be a flip of the switch. It’s going to be something that we’re spending a lot of time internally with our technology partners, our communities, and our IP partners to do it the right way.”