Meltwater Champions Chess Tour has announced it will mint nonfungible token trophies and collectibles to preserve the game‘s most defining moments.
The winner of the MCCT will be awarded an NFT trophy, marking mainstream crypto involvement from the international chess community. The tournament’s finals will see participation from grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and nine other professional chess players.
Chess Champs will mint two editions of the Champion’s Trophy NFT, allowing fans to obtain a replica of the trophy through an online auction. The company will also release a series of NFT collectibles attributed to the moves and the moments on the chess tour. Carlsen’s interest in crypto can be traced back to a recent chess tournament hosted by crypto exchange FTX, where the world champion won 0.6 Bitcoin along with a $60,000 cash prize.
In addition to awards, the chess community is exploring blockchain use cases to prevent cheating in online tournaments amid COVID-19 restrictions. As World Chess has previously explored the possibility of moving matches online via blockchain technology.
