Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi has launched his own collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), crypto art that was created with his image by digital designer BossLogic and will go on sale on Friday.
Messi, 34, is portrayed as a king, superhero and Greek titan in works entitled Man from the Future, Worth the Weight and The King Piece that celebrate his career highlights.
BossLogic, who is in Australia, is known for his work with Marvel Studios and Disney.
An NFT is a form of crypto asset which uses blockchain to record the ownership status of digital objects, such as images, videos and text. While anyone can view the item, only the buyer of an NFT has the official status of being its owner.
The market for NFTs has exploded in recent months. In March of this year, Christie's auction house sold a digital work by the artist known as Beeple for almost $69 million.
"Art is like football. Eternal," Messi said on his Twitter account in early August announcing the launch.
Works in the collection titled "Messiverse" will be available for purchase on the Ethernity Chain platform, known for producing original NFT pieces for sport stars.
BossLogic said depicting Messi was "a huge honour" in a post on Twitter in which he shared the Man from the Future artwork, which shows an image of Messi from behind, with the number 30 jersey that he will wear at his new club, Paris St Germain (PSG).
Messi made headlines around the world last week after leaving Barcelona after more than 20 years to join PSG. His signing-on fee includes some of the French club's cryptocurrency fan tokens.
Scroll through the gallery below to see more photos of Lionel Messi being introduced to fans in Paris.
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PSG's Lionel Messi waves during players presentations before the French League One match between Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. -
Paris Saint-Germain's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi enters the pitch during a presentation ceremony prior to the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Racing Club Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. -
PSG's Lionel Messi runs during players presentations before the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. -
Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain acknowledges the fans as he is introduced to the fans prior to the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg at Parc des Princes in Paris, France. -
Paris Saint-Germain's new recruits Lionel Messi (R), Gianluigi Donnarumma (C), Achraf Hakimi (L), Sergio Ramos (2R), Georginio Wijnaldum (2L) greet their fans during their presentation at the half-time of the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France. -
PSG's Lionel Messi during players presentation before the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. -
Paris Saint-Germain's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi waves hands to the supporters during a presentation ceremony prior to the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Racing Club Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. -
Paris Saint-Germain's new recruits Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos greet their fans during their presentation at the half-time of the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France. -
(From L) Paris Saint-Germain's Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi, Paris Saint-Germain's Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, Paris Saint-Germain's Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish defender Sergio Ramos and Paris Saint-Germain's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi pose during a presentation ceremony prior to the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Racing Club Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.
