Reserva recently launched the Spriz, the first Brazilian ‘phygital’ sneaker — disclosure
Blockchain technology has many applications beyond digital collectibles.. In my last column here, I’ve written about ticket sales and how turning these tickets into tokens can crack down on counterfeiting and keep scalpers in check. Today, I’m going to talk about other applications with great potential: mathematical bit authentication and “phygital” products.
Documentation of sports pieces
Before getting into the topic, it is worth remembering that the blockchain is a public and immutable network, meaning that all records made on this network are permanent, as well as transparent and verifiable by anyone. For this reason, technology has as one of its main functions the ability to authenticate transactions. Therefore, it has been applied, for example, in supply chain management and in Registration of contracts and other documents in the real estate market. However, there is also a significant movement to use blockchain to authenticate physical products, including sports products.
It is estimated that only in 2021 in Brazil, hacking caused an attack Loss of R$9 billion to sporting goods companies. Of course, unfortunately, many people choose to purchase pirated products. However, there are also countless people who do this without knowing that they are purchasing non-genuine items, due to the ever increasing perfection with which these items are produced. And this is exactly where blockchain can help.
It is possible to create a record in the form of an NFT (More about NFTs here) for each product entering the market, including details such as numbering, date of manufacture, and physical characteristics, among others. However, in this case, it is necessary to create a bridge between the product and the network, which can be done in several ways. The most common of these uses NFC (Near Field Communication) chips, the same technology used in proximity card payments, for example. Just put a chip in the product, link it to the NFT and that’s it: when you scan it with your smartphone, you will be taken to a page showing all the product details, and the token will be transferred to your digital wallet, where you can check its authenticity. If you want to resell such a product later, whoever buys it will go through the same process, and the token will automatically be transferred to the wallet of the new owner.
When I served as Head of Innovation at Atlético Mineiro, in 2021 we launched Brazil’s first smart jersey, Manto da Massa 2, and put a chip in every single one of the more than 120,000 shirts sold. By scanning it, people were taken to the club’s official app, where they had access to an exclusive area, and there is a record on the blockchain, confirming its authenticity forever.
The valuable sports memorabilia market will get a lot of technology in the same way. the friend Samy Vaisman writes about it here at Máquina do Esporte. Estimated at $26.1 billion in 2021By moving so much money, you end up attracting malicious individuals, who seek to profit by offering fake items.
To help solve the problem, Chiliz recently announced the GameUsed, an initiative for blockchain authentication of items used in official sporting games and events. It works like this: First, the chosen item (a T-shirt worn by an athlete, for example) is collected from the locker room and sent to Chiliz’s headquarters. There, it receives an NFC chip, and an NFT that represents it digitally is created. The tokens, which act as certificates of authenticity, are then returned to the customer (in this case, the football club) to be sold or auctioned.
The person who gets it receives the NFT in their wallet and has two options. If she sees those memorabilia as an investment asset (which is often the case, since items sell for thousands or millions of real), she can just choose to keep the token and let the item be stored with Chiliz, without worrying about storage conditions, security and logistics.
If it resells such an item, it only needs to transfer the token to the buyer, who automatically becomes the new owner of the physical good. If she really wants to have the item with her, she informs Chili’s, which “burns” the token and sends the product to the address provided. A much simpler, safer and cheaper process than today.
In addition to the NFT, the NFC chip can also be attached to contents that increase the value of the keepsake. Imagine the shirt of a player who played in the final match, which contains stored goals and photos, match statistics and a video of the player who wore it sending a message. The same can be applied to products sold in official stores for fans. One could think of the placement of totems with cameras at stadiums, which when scanning a jersey and taking pictures and storing them in it, creates a history of memories of all the games the person has been wearing. Wonderful. True? There are many possibilities for the intersection between the physical and digital worlds, which brings us to the next topic.
Phygital products
If we issue a digital COA for a product, why not go further, create a “digital twin” of it and allow the buyer to use it in their avatar, within the metaverse?
100% digital clothing and accessories are already in vogue, especially among young people. If you have kids, you probably know that the trend in the new generation is to dress up characters in games like Roblox or Fortnite to set them apart from the rest. Weight brands like Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Lacoste, and many others have already recognized this and launched virtual versions of their popular products over and over again, earning millions.
But the idea of merging the physical and digital versions (hence the name “phygital”) into one is still gaining momentum. Here in Brazil, Reserva, a pioneer in Web3 initiatives, launched recently Spriz, the nation’s first “phygital” sneaker. There were four models, limited and numbered edition, which give the purchaser a pair for use in real life, but also allow them to be used in Decentraland, one of the most famous metaverses. There are also other benefits, such as the exclusive shop for those who have the codes and discounts on the reserve itself, among others.
If the new generation is increasingly immersed in games and Sports organizations should act as entertainment platforms In order to attract these young people, it is very logical that football clubs, for example, start thinking about launching their own “phygital” versions. Imagine that when buying or receiving a formal shirt as a gift, a young person can wear it in the virtual environment, where he may spend more time than in the real world. The impact and identification will certainly be much greater.
I know that for many of us over 35 this may seem like a lot of nonsense, but remember that until recently social networks were also seen in this way and today they are an essential part of our lives. Therefore, it is worth opening your head and exploring new opportunities for communication with your fan, even if it is with your avatar.
Philippe Rebe is the general manager of Socios.com in Brazil, a consultant to some Web3 companies, a consultant on innovation in sports and writes monthly in sports machine