- The latest information suggests that the FIFA+ Collect platform will continue to launch NFTs on Algorand, but the football giant is also expanding to Polygon via drops on OpenSea.
FIFA is launching a new range of NFT collectibles via the Algorand and Ethereum scaling network Polygon ahead of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia, according to a announcement this week.
The global football body stated that this will be the first release of collectibles under a new partnership with crypto startup Modex, which will now oversee the strategic management of FIFA’s digital collecting platform, FIFA+ Collect.
The collecting platform launched in 2022 with NFTs minted exclusively on the Algorand blockchain.
On Tuesday, FIFA clarified that it will continue to launch NFTs on Algorand via its own platform, while also expanding to Polygon via drops via the OpenSea marketplace.
FIFA+ Collect is launching a total of 1,000 NFTs around the FIFA Club World Cup, with the first 100 appearing on Algorand and releasing on December 15.
These include the “rarest collectibles” in the drop that “offer the chance to get tickets” to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, per the release.
The remaining 900 NFTs will hit the OpenSea market on December 19. Further FIFA NFT drops will also take place on Polygon on OpenSea.
A Polygon Labs representative originally told Decrypt that the “project has now moved to Polygon,” but a FIFA representative clarified that the platform is “expanding” to Polygon, but “not shifting” from Algorand.
We want to make sure everyone understood yesterday’s announcement🙂 Two new drops have been announced ✌️
1⃣st drop👉December 15, 2023, via the FIFA+ Connect platform on the Algorand network – 100 collectibles
&
2⃣nd drop👉 December 19, 2023, via OpenSea on the Polygon network— FIFAPlusCollect (@FIFAPlusCollect) December 12, 2023
“Going forward, we will always take into account the interests of existing and future users in every choice, and make technological choices as a way to serve them in the best possible way.” the FIFA representative added. “In that sense, we remain vigilant about the progress of the existing chains and community, and today we are very happy that Polygon is working with us on this.”
The FIFA Club World Cup started on Tuesday in Jeddah. Participants include teams from top leagues around the world, such as English Premier League champions Manchester City.