Onder de eerste beursgenoteerde bedrijven die op de NFT-kar springen, zullen ze niet de laatste zijn

In een golf van prijsactie die doet denken aan de manie van 2017, kort nadat ze hadden aangekondigd dat ze het NFT-display en trackingplatform Tokenwave hadden gekocht, steeg de voorraad van popcultuurverzamelobjecten Funko (NYSE: FNKO) met meer dan 20%.

In tegenstelling tot veel prijsverhogende aankondigingen die zwaar zijn op hype en weinig inhoud van de laatste bullrun (en de tientallen onvermijdelijk die de komende maanden zullen komen), kunnen Funko en NFT’s echter perfect passen

On Thursday the creator of the widely popular Funko Pops collectibles line announced in a press release that they had acquired a majority stake TokenWave, the developers of the TokenHead NFT app built on the WAX blockchain. The release notes that the investment is their “initial entry into the NFT market,” and that the company will be releasing digital collectibles at a $9.99 price point starting in June.

Additionally, the company has physical-and-digital hybrid products in the works, such as pairing the “rarest of the Funko NFTs with exclusive redeemable Funko Pop!s.” The company will also be leveraging its extensive licensing agreements — an increasingly important source of NFT platform traction.

The company’s stock rallied as high as $24.81 on the news on Thursday before retreating into the afternoon. FNKO stock closed at $20.96 per share, up 6.5% on the day and over 100% on the year.

When reached by Cointelegraph, a representative for Funko declined to comment

The move should be familiar to industry veterans. At the tail end of the last bullrun, multiple companies, such as Kodak, saw massive stock price increases following blockchain-related announcements. Given the spate of C and D-list celebrities looking to make a quick buck on NFTs, it was inevitable that companies would follow suit.

Funko may well be an exception to the rule, however. NFTs are an ideal collection vehicle, and digital collectibles provides a new way for the company to connect fans to brands, meaning that the company could have staying power in the blockchain space. Likewise, Funko’s chosen platform, WAX, has already seen some success with licensed NFTs, including with a recent Godzilla vs. Kong release.