NBA Top Shot Beta Numbers and the Flow Blockchain’s new $12m fundraising round

The developers behind CryptoKitties, Dapper Labs announced a new $12 million fundraising round which includes several high profile NBA players like The Brooklyn Nets' Spencer Dinwiddie and Garrett Temple, the Miami Heat's Andre Iguodala, Los Angeles Lakers' JaVale McGee, and Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic.

The funding will go towards the continued development of the Flow blockchain network which is specifically designed for blockchain-based gaming.

"Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize consumer ownership on the internet," said Andre Iguodala

Additionally, Dapper Labs has released some of the early stats behind its beta app NBA Top Shot, a digital card collecting and trading marketplace. NBA Top Shot will have future applications, but for now, only supports trading and collecting of digitally scarce NBA "moments".

To date, Dapper Labs has sold $1.2 million worth of digital NBA cards on Flow, and The Block reports that NBA Top Shot has distributed 22,000 packs, and has transferred more than 14,000 cards. Additionally, the app – which is currently invite-only – has more than 900 active users.

"Blockchain is going to fundamentally alter the financial industry and have a major impact on consumers," said Spencer Dinwiddie

Why it matters:

• Blockchain-based gaming has yet to take off, partially because of scalability and latency issues. The Dapper Labs team is well versed in blockchain games and has built two of the most successful games/collectibles in CryptoKitties and CheeseWizards. The launch of NBA Top Shot will be the team’s first shot – pun intended – at a mainstream consumer application for non-crypto natives.
• There are several high profile NBA players backing this project which helps elevate the potential success of this crypto application. The soft launch also times perfectly with the NBA season which has recently re-launched.