EBay is getting into NFTs — with an assist from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

Monday’s announcement by the company was that 13 limited-edition digital collectibles will be launched in partnership with OneOf Web3 platform. Each of these includes a 3-D animation of Gretzky performing one of his most famous moves on the ice.

NFTs are a type of digital asset created to track ownership of a virtual item using blockchain technology. These unique items can be art or trading cards. Every NFT is unique, can’t replicated, and has a distinct value. They are stored digitally in wallets to be kept as collector’s items.

“40 years ago, Sports Illustrated featured me on their cover. It was a momentous occasion in my life.
Gretzky stated that his life was “my life.” I’m proud to share this special experience with my hockey fans, who have been following my career for many decades.

Globally, eBay has 142 million buyers. It is the second-largest player — though a distant second to Amazon — in e-commerce. Electronics & accessories is the company’s most popular category, which appeal to a younger consumer demographic. This month was earlier. eBay bought a 25% stakeThe toy manufacturer is worth $263 millions. FunkoAlong with former Disney CEO Bob Iger and sports agent Rich Paul, the Chernin group will be there.

Dawn Block from eBay, Vice President of Collectibles, Electronics and Home, said that NFTs and Blockchain technology “are revolutionizing the collectibles industry and are becoming an investment opportunity. Through our collaboration with OneOf eBay makes coveted NFTs accessible to a new generation.

OneOf is a green NFT platform, which uses efficient blockchain technology. It can take a lot of energy to mine cryptocurrency. in some cases as much energy as entire countries. OneOf says it has used more than 2,000,000 times less energy than what are known as “proof-of-work” blockchain networks. The company claims that more than 80% are created by minorities and woman-led initiatives.

Lin Dai, OneOf CEO told CNBC that eBay and our software would be integrated in order to offer a seamless NFT purchasing experience. at Gary Vaynerchuk’s “VeeCon” — a four-day NFT and Web3 conference hosted in Minneapolis. Our goal is to attract the next 100,000,000 [currently]Non-crypto users will benefit from this partnership, I believe.”

A third of eBay customers use their mobile shopping app every month. It is the third most used shopping app in the United States after Amazon. Walmart. 

OneOf will continue to release additional NFT series in collaboration with eBay throughout the rest of 2018. The NFT series will feature iconic Sports Illustrated covers. According to OneOf, each NFT will be priced at just $10 per unit.

NFT collection values have seen a dramatic drop this month. The prices of some more well-known collections such as Crypto Punks or Bored Ape Yacht Club, fell 32% and 28% respectively. according to CREBACO research.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency — the asset class that fuels each NFT purchase on the blockchain network — has experienced a downturn. Recent trading has seen a drop in the value of ethereum by up to 60% from 2021’s peak. bitcoin hit its lowest level since December 2020 last week, under $26,000.