NBA Top Shot Marketplace

NBA Top Shot Marketplace Review

NBA Top Shot Marketplace was born when the NBA partnered with Dapperlabs, a blockchain based experience company to create the first exclusive collection of NBA digital Assets in 2020. They released their beta version at the beginning of the 20-21 basketball season, and since have sold over $400 million in gross sales at the time of first writing this review (March 2021).

What is an NFT Marketplace?

An NFT Marketplace is a marketplace for NFTs. So far so good. But what is an NFT?

NFT is an acronym for “Non-Fungible Tokens”. Something which is fungible is replaceable. For instance, one kilo of 24 karat gold is – at least in theory – replaceable with any other kilo of 24 karat gold. When something is non-fungible, it means that it is unique, and not replaceable with any other item out there.

Although NFTs are conceptually similar to cryptocurrencies, these digital assets might represent antiques & artworks, collectables like trading cards, and other items with unique features. These tokens are stored cryptographically in a blockchain network for authentication and validation. Even when transacting, each token is sold as a whole, unlike cryptocurrencies which are divisible into smaller units. NFTs lose their value when split into smaller portions, however, they can be duplicated by the artist and each additional copy can be sold separately (but the total number of duplicates will then always be known).

NBA Top Shot Marketplace Focus

NBA Top Shot focuses on one thing- NBA highlights, like this Lebron breakaway dunk that sold for over $70,000.

Unlike several other NFT marketplaces, NBA Top Shot has an exclusive partnership with one of the biggest and highest earning sports franchises in the world. Once the NBA cuts the highlights, NBA Top Shot determines how many they are going to sell and numbers them in packs. The value is determined by the player, the number, the quality and rarity of the highlight.

NBA Top Shot creates value in the scarcity of the “moments” and the NFT is an actual NBA video highlight. With several parallels to antiquated trading cards, it gives users the opportunity to own historical basketball moments with blockchain security.

They have four tiers of collectibles, ranging from “common tier” (10,000+ editions) to the “ultimate tier” (only 1 in the world). This allows fans to create their collection from any price bracket, and buy, sell and trade as they please.

Layout of NBA Top Shot Marketplace

Different NFT Marketplaces present their NFTs, the latest bid and the remaining time of an auction etc. in different ways. What you are most comfortable with viewing and using is up to you and no one else.

The following is a print screen of the home page at NBA Top Shot:

Being NBA centric, NBA Top Shot Marketplace appeals to not only tech savvy NFT collectors, but general basketball fans who may have been previously un-aware of NFTS and their layout makes it easy for them to understand. The layout includes information on what an NBA NFT actually is, when new packs are going to drop and anything else needed for a blockchain rookie. Their sign-up process is quick, easy and clean, and you can start your collection in minutes.

If we zone in on a specific NFT instead, the layout is as set out in the following picture. As you can see, the specific NFT layout shows the asking price, the top sale, how many there are and – of course – the actual NBA-highlight represented by the NFT.

NBA Top Shot Marketplace Fees

When you buy an NFT somewhere, it is customary for the relevant NFT Marketplace to charge a fee for enabling the sale. This fee is typically a percentage of the NFT's sale price and is normally paid by the buyer. This can be compared with how regular art galleries normally take a share of the sale of any paintings etc. hanging in the gallery when a sale is executed.

For every sale on NBA Top Shot, a 5.00% fee is applied (split between Dapper and the NBA). If a moment is sold for $20, the seller will receive $19 in their dapper account. It is free to list moments for as long as you would like. 

Referral Program

NBA Top Shot Marketplace is currently updating their referral program, stay tuned!

NBA Top Shot Marketplace payment methods

NBA Top Shot allows purchases with Credit card and cryptocurrency ( currently supporting - Ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), DAI and USDC.)

However, their preferred option is to use their “dapper balance”. This is essentially a prepaid balance from the above methods on their interface. This gives you the advantage of instant transactions (crucial for rare drops) as well as the ability to receive funds from selling your moments.

Enjoy!