Shatner explores the world of blockchain with new digital trading cards

June 25, 2020 Editor Blockchain 0

Fans of the Star Trek captain can trade the cards that feature personal photos including his dental x-rays via a WAX Cloud Wallet.

William Shatner and WAX Blockchain have created a set of digital trading cards that feature personal pictures from the actor’s movie and TV career as well as his personal life.

Image: WAX Blockchain

William Shatner is crossing a new tech frontier with the release of trading cards on WAX Blockchain. Collectors can buy a pack of digital trading cards that feature photographs from his personal life and movie and television career. The pictures include a photo of him hugging Leonard Nimoy and even a dental X-ray. Each card has a caption written by Shatner.

The WAX blockchain record tracks a card’s ownership records and trading history and includes this information:

  • Product specifications for each card including the date it was created, its rarity, images of the card, and proof of authenticity 
  • Comprehensive ownership records that show who traded the card and when 
  • Complete trade and sale history including how much money was paid for the cards and when

A few packs will include Golden Cards which owners can redeem for a piece of physical memorabilia from Shatner. The digital packs are similar to blind bags in that buyers won’t know what their cards are until they buy and open the digital packs.

SEE: How blockchain will disrupt business: A special report (Free PDF)

Star Trek and TJ Hooker fans can join a waiting list for the opportunity to purchase WAX digital card packs on a soon-to-be-released marketplace. Buyers can trade cards via a WAX Cloud Wallet and the Worldwide Asset eXchange.

Fake memorabilia is a big market with the most recent example being a spike in sales of items with fake signatures by Kobe Bryant. Collectors can use an authentication service to verify the provenance and authenticity of an item before buying it, but there is still a lot of fraud in the card trading industry. In 2019, the federal law enforcement officials launched a criminal investigation into a large baseball card authentication firm, a sports memorabilia dealer, and an auction house on suspicion of tampering with baseball cards to sell them at inflated prices.

WAX has created blockchain-based tools to stop this kind of fraud and allow collectors to trade digital or physical items instantly and securely. The company has supported the trade of more than $100 million digital items since 2017. WAX has worked with TOPS to create digital card packs for the Garbage Pail Kids.

William Quigley is the co-founder of the Worldwide Asset eXchange and the managing director of Cashel Enterprises, a cryptocurrency focused investment fund that has invested in more than 40 blockchain and cryptocurrency-related investments. 

Also see