Football: It’s a sport filled with magic, memorable moments, and passionate fans who devote their lives to supporting their team.

And now, a long-term project is giving supporters a whole new way of collecting memorabilia.

Shirtum is a nonfungible token platform that allows footballers to create NFTs reflecting some of their biggest milestones — powerfully telling the story of iconic moments in their careers that will go down in history.

Fans will be able to compete for the chance to own limited-edition tokens in their very own personalized gallery, with blockchain technology being used to guarantee the authenticity, traceability and immutability of each collectible.

Why Shirtum is different

There are a number of sports-focused NFT projects that have popped up in recent months. However, Shirtum says it offers a crucial point of difference because of how it interprets the role of digital assets differently. To offer the fullest experience possible, this team believes that every token should offer a tangible link to physical assets — driving forward the emotional connection that exists between fans and their idols.

Shirtum explained: “Players want to share with their fans the most iconic items they have accumulated during their career, but without physically disposing of them. Fans want access to their idols’ private museums, but these are only accessible to those closest to them.”

The project helps solve this dilemma by turning soccer players into content creators — giving them the chance to explain the significance of the memorabilia they own first-hand.

Not only will this NFT platform simplify the process of purchasing tokens by allowing fans to use fiat money (helping to eliminate a key hurdle to ownership for those who lack experience with crypto,) but some of its biggest backers are also from the world of football. Top-level player Papu Gómez has played an instrumental role in developing the product and offering connections to big names.

In its whitepaper, Shirtum set out an ambitious objective to be working with 20 of the top 300 players in the world by the end of its first year. Joining Gomez among its founding squad are Rakitic, Luis Nani and Marcelo Guedes.

Over time, Shirtum also wants to branch out other popular sports that span the globe — including American football, baseball and basketball.

The project told Cointelegraph: “Shirtum is here to rediscover football! Bringing sports collecting to a whole new dimension using blockchain.”

More insights from Shirtum here

Perfect timing

Shirtum’s arrival on the NFT scene comes as football fans begin to return to stadiums around the world, with the Euro 2020 tournament finally kicking off — delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last May, the project launched a solidarity campaign to raise funds for the fight against COVID-19, with more than 120 top players pledging their support. A total of $130,000 was raised in just two weeks, with funds being distributed among the hospitals nominated by each footballer.

The project says there’s plenty to look forward to as it gears up for launch, with its app set to make its debut in just a couple of months. Players have already begun to create NFTs that tell their stories.

A particularly clever twist has seen Shirtum split its token sale up into three chunks. The “first half,” a first-round private sale, began on June 7 — and this will be followed by the “second half” on June 18. From here, all eyes will be on “extra time” on June 25, marking the moment when tokens are sold to the community.

Learn more about Shirtum

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