American professional basketball team Sacramento Kings teamed up with U.K.-based blockchain startup CryptoKaiju to launch NBA's first blockchain-powered range of crypto-collectibles. CryptoKaiju is the creator of Ethereum-based Kaiju toys.
Kings, as they are commonly known as, will give away more than 100 unique, limited-edition Kaiju collectible toys as reward to the team's fans all through the 2019-20 basketball seasons.
The collectible vinyl soft toys are powered by the Ethereum blockchain, which can be used to prove the provenance and authenticity of each Kaiju. Each of these collectibles are backed by a non-fungible token, implying that no two collectibles are the same.
Fifteen out of the over 100 collectables will enable the receiving fan to enjoy the reward in the form of courtside seats, signed merchandize and VIP tours, among others.
Each kaiju toy contains a tamper resistant, NFC enabled certificate of authenticity that is linked to a ERC-721 compliant smart contract, which can be queried to prove the authenticity of each Kaiju as well as revealing the unique characteristics of each.
The Sacramento Kings, one of the most tech-savvy ownership groups in the NBA, had partnered BitPay in 2014 to become the first sports team in the world to accept Bitcoin payments for match tickets and promotional products.
Recently, it teamed up with blockchain startup Blockparty to launch NBA's first blockchain-driven reward program for the NBA's first predictive gaming app called 'Call the Shot.'
In July 2018, Sacramento Kings had become probably the first professional sports team to foray into cryptocurrency mining and use the funds for charity program 'MiningForGood.' They installed crypto-mining machines inside their arena.
In August, Dallas Mavericks became the second NBA team after Sacramento Kings to accept cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) as an additional method of payment for match tickets and merchandise. It teamed up with Bitcoin payment processor BitPay to process all the payments using Bitcoin.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.