The world’s most famous entertainment conglomerate has surprised the Web3 space with its return
The announcement of Disney Pinnacle in November 2023 rekindled hope for the return of a mainstream audience in the NFT space. With unquestionable strength, Disney marked entire generations around the world. Despite having reportedly scrapped its metaverse division earlier this year, it has returned heavily to betting on Web3 technologies. The brand will tokenize its biggest icons in an important partnership with Dapper Labs, the Web3 firm behind successes like NBA Top Shot and the Flow blockchain.
Content
- What is Disney Pinnacle?
- Flow blockchain, Dapper Labs and mainstream adoption
- How to buy the new Disney NFT pins?
- Disney’s prior ventures in Web3
- Top brands betting on metaverse and NFT experiences
What is Disney Pinnacle?
Disney Pinnacle is a new NFT platform set to go live later in 2023. Leveraging Flow blockchain technology by Dapper Labs, Disney Pinnacle will serve as an NFT marketplace for the brand’s latest NFT venture – its digital versions of the popular Disney pins.
These NFTs bring Disney’s massive fanbase back to experimenting with blockchain technology (whether or not they are aware of it) by collecting pins of their favorite characters from Disney Animation Studios, Pixar and Star Wars.
Pin trading is not a novel concept for true Disney fans and former cast members (Disney parks crew). Ever since the first Disneyland opened in 1955, themed lapel pins were sold to promote the brand’s culture.
Now on the Flow blockchain, the Disney Pinnacle NFT marketplace will allow digital Pins to continue this long-cherished tradition and expand it.
Flow blockchain, Dapper Labs and mainstream adoption
Although it is an attention-grabbing name, Disney did not enter this venture alone. Its partner is none other than Dapper Labs, one of the most important firms in the Web3 space. The OG creators of CryptoKitties, NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day, Dapper Labs received a $15 million investment from Animoca Brands back in 2018.
CryptoKitties was the first viral blockchain game and NBA Top Shot remains to this day the most traded NFT collection ever (more than 22 million sales).
The choice for Flow as the blockchain of its Pins can also be connected to Dapper Labs’ successful Flow collections NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day. Disney Pinnacle’s NFTs are in a way similar to the two, as its idea came from an already popular physical collectible related to the brand – the pins visitors of the Walt Disney parks buy on-site, collect for years and trade on secondary markets.
Besides, Flow is widely recognized as an excellent layer-1 blockchain for seamless crypto jargon-free onboarding processes. Any Disney fan, whether or not they have used a Web3 wallet or even realize they’re interacting with blockchain technology, can easily use Flow dapps and access its NFTs.
How to buy the new Disney NFT pins?
At the time of writing, the Disney Pinnacle platform had not yet been launched. To get a chance to buy and collect or trade your own digital pins, the first step is joining the waitlist on the official website – that is, unless you are one of the selected invited users who can enjoy the early access, closed release version of the dapp.
Following this, once launched, the process of purchasing your first NFT pins is expected to be simple and hassle-free. For other Dapper Labs NFT projects, users could easily create an account, which automatically generated a Flow wallet.
Additionally, Disney NFT pins are expected to be available for purchase in fiat currency, likely US dollars, allowing users to effortlessly exchange USD for cryptocurrency when necessary.
Disney’s prior ventures in Web3
One of the first times the Web3 industry experienced Disney NFTs was in 2021, with the launch of its Disney Golden Moments on the VeVe marketplace. As digital collectibles representing iconic pieces of The Walt Disney Company’s history, these Partners Statue NFTs were initially gifted to Disney+ early subscribers.
From then on, several Disney brands like Marvel and Star Wars also had their own NFTs launched on VeVe – from digital comics to artworks and various collectibles.
Later in 2022, Disney appointed an executive to oversee its metaverse strategy and started hiring specialists in the area. That same year, the Disney Accelerator Program inductees list included many blockchain-related projects, such as Polygon and Flickplay.
Top brands betting on metaverse and NFT experiences
Despite being back at the center of conversations about the next NFT bull markets, Disney is not the only global brand betting on initiatives with blockchain technology.
Ubisoft, Mattel (through Barbie and Hot Wheels), Adidas, Amazon Prime and Gucci are just some of the many names worth mentioning that have launched or announced their Web3 projects in 2023.
Before that, many others have already experimented with their NFTs – and the future will certainly not be the end of it. While renewing the audience’s view of their brands’ identity, these ventures, in turn, help them remain relevant and innovative.
As nothing made for the public receives unilaterally positive views, there is a lot of resistance from an illiterate public. This is specifically the case in the world of traditional gaming, where everything involving NFTs and cryptocurrencies gets labeled as a scam. It’s the brands’ job however, to educate them and introduce these novel topics as subtly as possible – like Disney does when calling its NFTs ‘Pins’.
Discover trending NFT projects
The NFT space continues to evolve and innovations continue to appear during the bear market. As the next bull run approaches, the Web3 community is fueling speculation that it will be boosted by adoption from giant brands like Disney.
Don’t lose sight of your favorite digital collectibles projects. Track them through DappRadar Rankings and turn on your own alerts for your gems.
Useful links
- What is the Flow Blockchain: All About the Home of NBA Top Shot
- Disney Selects Polygon for Accelerator Program & MATIC Soars
- NBA Top Shot: Learn All About The Iconic NFTs
- Top Toys Brands Betting on Web3 and Digital Collectibles
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