Purchasing sports memorabilia is a great way to build a stronger connection with your idols and feel like part of a community. But investing in sports and entertainment collectibles is much more than just a fun hobby!
Original memorabilia that has been authenticated by an authorized source and carries a certificate of ownership can help you diversify your investment portfolio. What’s more, since these assets have a low correlation with other investment options such as stocks and real estate, they can be an excellent way to safeguard your capital from market fluctuations and recessions.
Nonetheless, protecting your sports and entertainment products from theft and counterfeiting is vital to keep your assets safe. In this guide by Authena, you’ll learn about the technologies used in securing sports memorabilia. Let’s get started.
Securing Collectible Products: What You Need To Know
Whether it’s a rookie card, an autographed baseball bat, or a costume used on a famous movie set, your collectible products are worth protecting. And, this is especially true in today’s economy.
Indeed, over the past years, the news has been dotted with sensational sales, such as the $4.6 million sale of the Luka Dončić rookie card or the $5.2 million sale of the LeBron James rookie card. What’s more, the market for sports memorabilia has been drastically transformed by the advent of eCommerce trading platforms, which have increased the trade of sports cards and other memorabilia by nearly 150% since 2020.
But this unprecedented growth has also exposed investors and buyers to new risks.
Indeed, purchasing sports memorabilia online in today’s market can make you more susceptible to bad actors who may attempt to sell counterfeit or fake products.
Fortunately, thanks to new and emerging technologies, there is more than one strategy you can use to ensure that your sports memorabilia is authentic, protected, and original.
Below, we’ll look at how Authena uses blockchain, Smart Contracts, NFC and RFID tags, NFTs, and the Metaverse to protect buyers and sellers from theft and counterfeiting.
Blockchain and Smart Contracts
When it comes down to securing collectibles, technologies such as Authena Shield can help. These frameworks use the features of blockchain infrastructure to ensure that all transactions a certain product goes through are valid, authentic, and recorded in an immutable way.
Blockchain infrastructures are well-known for their ability to power and regulate cryptocurrency trading. But given the potential of this technology, blockchain is now used in several industries, including the authentication of sports memorabilia. Thanks to the encryption process of blockchain, every memorabilia item is assigned a protected digital identity and its unique owner. This allows sellers and buyers to track the sale of an item and ensure that trades are carried out fairly.
Technology-Enhanced Certificates of Authenticity
Certificates of Authenticity (COA) have always been used in the process of securing collectible products. This is because a COA allows buyers and sellers to agree on an item’s value and verify its authenticity.
Nonetheless, standard Certificates of Authenticity are today obsolete and extremely easy to clone or manipulate. Fortunately, new technologies provide an extra layer of security against fraud and theft.
Tools such as Near-Field Communication (NFC) and Radiofrequency Identification (RFID)allow buyers to ensure that the COA has not been tampered with. What’s more, thanks to emerging technologies, each memorabilia item can be provided with a unique physical-digital identity that can be used to track its originality, provenance, and authenticity – which takes us to the next point: digital twins!
Technology-enhanced frameworks such as Authena M3TA™ can help secure entertainment memorabilia and sports items with the use of digital twins and the metaverse. A Digital twin is a virtual copy of an asset that is linked to an underlying physical asset through a unique string of code.
Digital twins exist in the Metaverse, which makes it easier for collectors to track the journey of an item and ensure that it has not been manipulated by bad actors. Digital twins play a vital role in helping buyers and sellers track their goods in Web3 technologies.
End-to-End and User-Friendly Authentication Solutions
Sports and entertainment memorabilia gain more and more value over time, or after certain events take place. That is why, often, the older a certain item is, the more valuable it becomes. However, at the same time, older items are more likely to have passed from one collector to another multiple times, making it very difficult to verify their authenticity.
That is why clubs, federations, athletes and IP rights holders should consider the benefits of using an end-to-end tracking system such as Authena L1VE™. Using a combination of tracking technologies, blockchain, digital-physical twins, and advanced IoT devices, these systems allow sellers and buyers to track assets to their origin. What’s more, these technologies leverage user-friendly interfaces that help fans interact with the item through their smartphones.
Working With a Specialized Product Authentication Company
Whether you are a sports league manager, owner of an entertainment company, a player, or an artist, using Web3 features and emerging technologies can help you enhance the value of your items by establishing ownership, managing IP rights, building relationships with collectors, and engaging with your fans’ communities. The product authentication experts at Authena can help you find the best authentication strategy for your needs.
