The Olympics Debuts Shiny, Official NFT Pins Reviving Its Vintage Collectibles

By Mikelle Leow, 04 Jun 2021

Images courtesy of nWay

Wherever you are, you can now own a precious Olympic souvenir. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially licensed its first non-fungible token (NFT) pins as a modern, remote world-friendly step up from its usual launches of the coveted collectibles.

The NFT Olympic Pins, designed by game developer nWay, celebrate 125 years of modern Olympics history by resuscitating iconic emblems, posters, pictograms, and mascots as exclusive, digital collector’s items. The inaugural set is recognized as a part of the Olympic Heritage Collection.

Visuals shared with DesignTAXI showcase shiny NFT versions of the Athens 1896 poster, the official C.O.F. Paris 1924 badge, the Chamonix 1924 poster, the 1932 Lake Placid poster, an Aquatics Tokyo 1964 pictogram, and the Munich 1972 dog mascot.

Just like physical pins, the NFT collectibles come with their own authenticity, scarcity, and provenance, so owning one is a pretty big deal. And although the physical accessories are usually kept for display purposes rather than collected to wear, the animated versions keep up with those appearances and feature their own “pin backings” too.

Game developers eternalized archival elements for a digital world using high-quality 3D models, as well as animation and visual effects, to develop the “truly premium NFTs,” explained nWay’s CEO Taehoon Kim.

Timo Lumme, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, described the NFT pins as a “natural evolution” of the tradition of collecting and trading Olympic pins. “[Fans] can now connect with the excitement of the Games in a whole new way and own a piece of Olympic history,” he added.

Collectors can grab the NFT Olympic Pins three ways. They can purchase assorted packs of the pins on nWayPlay.com from June 17, obtain them from other collectors, or even earn them for free by playing a real-time competitive video game to be launched ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Meanwhile, take a peek at the glorious NFT pins.