The sports industry has some of the most passionate fans out there. For some, part of the fan experience is getting into sports collectible items. Seeing the huge market among these passionate collectors, Lympo is bringing this enthusiasm to blockchain technology. Joining us in this episode is Lympo’s Head of Partnerships, Vilius Jastremskas, to tell us about the origin of the company and how they grew into a platform that is at the forefront of the intersection between blockchain and sports. He also talks about some of the crucial pillars that uphold this innovative project as well as their exciting partnerships that help transform fan engagement in sports. Tune in to this great conversation to learn more about how blockchain is transforming how fans experience sports.
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Vilius Jastremskas Of Lympo — The Platform Building A Sports NFTs Ecosystem Including, Plus: Mattel Unveils Fast & Furious Collection
This is Vilius Jastremskas of Lympo and Digisport, the platform that is changing the future of blockchain and sports. I'm here on the Edge of NFT, the show that is changing the way you learn about all of the greatest projects in the NFT space. Keep reading.
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Stay tuned for this episode to learn how Lympo is gamifying the sports collector experience with the help of UFC Champion, Rose Namajunas.
Plus, know how open water diving leads to the discovery of new worlds and new perspectives.
Finally, hear about how Hot Wheels are hot again as NFTs in a fast and furious way. All this and more on this episode. Enjoy. Before we move on, don't forget that our Outer Edge LA event returned to Los Angeles in March 2023. You can catch up on all the discussions, presentations, and more by heading over to Watch.OuterEdge.live and registering with only your email address. You'll then have access to over 60 captivating conversations and performances. Binge watchers are welcome. We'll see you inside.
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In this sponsored episode, we're delighted to introduce Vilius Jastremskas, Dynamic Head of Partnerships at Lympo, a platform at the forefront and the intersection between blockchain and sports. Vilius is a seasoned professional in sales and marketing who has a knack for designing strategies that catapult business growth far beyond what was thought possible. His forte lies in devising, implementing, creating sales and marketing plans, and setting companies on a trajectory for unprecedented success.
Lympo, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is innovatively crafting a sports entity ecosystem with IP rights to globally recognized athletes, sports superstars, and clubs. Lympo is re-imagining the sports industry. They aim to provide unique digital ownership-based fan experiences through the application of cutting-edge solutions. Join us as we delve into this exciting world. Vilius, welcome to the show.
It is a pleasure to be here. Hopefully, we're going to have a great show.
It's a fact. I know you might be a little hesitant because it's 4:00 in the morning where you are. You're not sure if you're going to nod off in the middle of things.
With such a company, it's impossible.
Where are you in the world?
I’m in the Philippines.
That’s very cool. Thanks for coming in with us. I don't know how you're up at that hour, but we're going to run with it. I'm going to dive in here with the first question. You guys are doing some truly special stuff and immortalizing career-defining moments. You've got top athletes in there. You've got licensed NFT collections. I'm curious from your perspective how this all came about and how you, in particular, became part of the journey at Lympo.
The whole story of limbo started back when we had the first ICO. We used to be a health and fitness application that helps users to monetize their exercise. After the acquisition of Animoca Brands, the model slightly shifted. We became having this background of sports and all those connections in the sports field. We decided to stay in a sport world, but shift to the NFT side a little bit more. We established our own platform where we create the NFT collections of different levels of athletes. After this, we release them on our platform.
This model then shifted even more when we saw that the sports collectible market is a huge market and fans are passionate collectors themselves. With the ability and technology of blockchain, this can be done in the digital format. This can solve some of the issues and pain points that the traditional market is at. This is where we are. We are exploring this market a lot and our project, which we are launching. I'm sure we going to talk about this a little bit later on how it became part of my journey. The CEO of the company approached me. He offered this opportunity knowing my experience in the sports field and the sales and marketing field in the past.
I will follow up there. I asked you before the show, while I was having difficulty pronouncing your name, where you're from. You said Lithuania. Is there a tie in there geographically with the company and its origins?
Yes. The company originated before the innovation of Animoca Brands. It was founded in Lithuania. We have employees from across the world. We are not restricted to Lithuania as a region, but the core team is from there.
That’s awesome. One of the things you brought up in your core statement as you're kicking off was the true conviction lot of these fans have for their sports teams. In the States, it’s the NBA conference, which is right before the NBA Finals. A lot of people are watching this ardently. People immediately correlate and understand how passionate people can be about collectibles and things evolving around these types of events. Lympo is creating unique sports in its ecosystem. Could you shed some light on some of the crucial pillars that uphold this innovative project from the NFTs, the gaming aspect, and whether there are going to be tokens and different things like that?
Our main token is a $SPORT token which you can find. We use that in our platform. We also have a staking pool of entities where users can earn the SPORT token by staking those NFTS. In the Digisport project that we are launching, $SPORT is one of the currencies of how we can acquire those mystery boxes. Talking more specifically about the upcoming project, we did it with Rose Namajunas. What we are creating is a gamified collectible experience. It's not a simple, “I purchase the item. I’m a collector. I have this item.” It’s more about how you have to combine certain elements. You have to create and combine an avatar of Rose Namajunas. Only then do you create this avatar to upgrade to a higher level. By upgrading, you got into different character worlds.
The most simplistic ones are t-shirts with the branding, signed t-shirts, and hoodies, but then, it goes all the way above and beyond getting her signed gloves from one of her fights or even having a session or training. Getting tips from a UFC champion is a big thing. I don't think it's something we can purchase easily. We are trying to create those experiences for her fans that are unique and couldn't be purchased anywhere else.
That's the highlight of what you guys are up to. A lot of people are excited about Rose Namajunas, among them are folks here, like our producer. Sean was excited to hear that we were going to be talking about Rose as well. Could you expand upon how the partnership came to be and how you're integrating with her in any other developments that are going on there?
Yes. A few years ago when we launched our original NFT platform, Rose was one of the first athletes we signed. At the time, she was still fighting very actively and had a massive following base. She still does. Throughout those two years, we managed to build this relationship and credibility with each other. A few years ago, there was a lot of skepticism about NFTs, and even still, there is some. It's all about educating about things and what's going on in the digital space.
Years ago, we launched a collection. It was successful. We still have that. The project that we proposed to her is all about bringing her fans and merging them into the digital world. She can monetize her exposure, but as well, fans can have this unique gamified way of collecting her avatars and claiming prizes. It's all about increasing her brand awareness as well.
That's a really cool way to do it. For all those reading about Rose Namajunas, if you don't know her, she also goes by Thug Rose. If you go and do a quick search, you'll pull a ton of cool information. She promises to help transform fan engagement in sports. How do you see that engagement unfolding into the future, utilizing this platform?
One of the biggest problems in this society is that fans cannot interact with their favorite athletes. There is social media where you can be 1 of the 100,000 who make a comment and expect that someone will get back to you. Likewise, athletes, using Web2 tools, don't have a way to monetize their exposure as well as their brand. There is some paid content that they can do, but in general, Web2 platforms don't pay for those clicks, like Instagram, even though athletes are those who create content there and who make a profit for the platform.
What Web3 does is it allows athletes to earn by creating content, like releasing Rose Namajunas’ avatars. It is creating this whole gamified digital experience. I believe that what Web3 can do is eliminate some of the pains of Web2, the physical world, and collectible experiences. As the platform will evolve, we're going to have more athletes joining their fans in the space as well and having those unique experiences in the sports collectible market.
You maybe alluded to it earlier if I'm correct. There is a design element here, probably both physical aesthetic but also intellectual. It’s the design-thinking type of using new technologies. You're designing a unique fighter for this collection. Can you walk us through how that goes and the thought that goes into it?
Yes. The word dimension gamified, the collectible experience is where all this unique fighter experience is coming in. The flow is quite simple. Users are purchasing mystery boxes from the Digisport platform. There are various sizes of boxes, coming from the bronze one which going to cost, at the first stage only, $5, and then going all the way to the diamond boxes. Once you get a box, you have stickers in that box. Out of those stickers, you need to create your unique fighter.
There will be a wide range of those athletes and each of them is unique. As you acquire more stickers, one of the stickers can be Rose's head. One can be her legs. Once you combine those stickers, then you have the first initial stages of beginner NFT. After this beginner NFT, then you breed it into different levels. On a different level, you have different rewards unlocking to you where the legendary one is the top one. It allows you to participate in the wrap for the main prize.
It's great. It's a way to get that engagement going and to gamify the experience of being able to get some of those exclusive types of prizes. A lot of people are going to be able to resonate with the lore of being able to get some of these cool experiences. On top of all of the things that you described with us, I know that you probably have a ton of other things that all of you are working on. You can't necessarily talk about all of them, but I'm sure there are some that you can share with us. Is there anything on the roadmap from partnerships, artist collaborations, or any other features that people should be on the lookout for?
We have over 50 athletes onboarded into Lympo's main platform which provides minting and staking utilities. We are continuously expanding this portfolio and continuously signing athletes. Our focus is on Digisport in terms of the sports collectible market. We are doing this first, the project with Rose. After we finish this project, then we are looking to add more athletes and provide more of these types of experiences with some adjusted elements probably.
If there was a massive bracketed fight among all the athletes on your platform, who would win?
That's a very good question but I don't want to be biased.
It’s okay.
I'll let the audience decide.
That's a good question for social media. That’s good.
Rose would be one of the favorites.
She is one of the tops. They're not all fighters, but they've got their own hit points in various categories. Before we wrap up, let’s get to the main questions. It has been fascinating to learn about this project. It is cutting-edge and explores new territory in creative ways to utilize NFTs. You guys are doing some stuff with minting and staking. What else is going on outside of Lympo that you're watching? What do you find intriguing or interesting out there in the Web3 domain?
I mainly follow everyone across the market brands portfolio. We have over 500 investment portfolios of quite large market brands. There are quite things to follow. From this side, it is mainly being a Mocaverse holder. That's one of the Animoca Brands projects that they have launched. I am a big fan of this. I am following the space and seeing how the project progresses outside Animoca and myself as a sports fan as well. It is so rare what these guys are doing. It’s always intriguing to watch for me.
Have you guys contributed any interesting perks for Mocaverse holders or haven't decided on this yet?
We did an MA session with Rose herself. She joined the Mocaverse space. She talked before the Mocas about the UFC fighting and her experience. This was very interesting to me. There will be more elements that we do specifically for Digisport, like whitelists, allowlists, and our interactions with Moca holders.
That's cool. The ecosystem in Animoca Brands is awesome. We went to NFT NYC. There was an Animoca Portfolio Day. Being in the room and seeing what people are building is incredible. I wanted to give a quick shout-out to that.
It's everyone that are expert in their own field. It's good that this whole decentralized world allows us to share those ideas, collaborate with each other, and look for ways. With all this entrepreneurship mindset and building things on the spot, the future is fascinating.
If you're a reader but you want to catch the video on YouTube, go check it out because Animoca Brands has the coolest Zoom backgrounds of any of our guests. They've managed to incorporate cool animations and make sure they highlight all of their top properties. Catch that on the YouTube segment. It's been fun doing the main questions here, but let's get on to Edge Quick Hitters. This is going to be fascinating. It’s always fascinating to hear from people who grew up in different places than we did, too, because the answers tend to be a little bit different. Edge Quick Hitters is a fun and quick way to get to know you a bit better. We have ten quick questions. We're looking for a short, single, or a few-word response, but feel free to expand if you get the urge. Are you ready?
Let's give it a go.
What's the first thing you remember ever purchasing in your life?
It was probably a computer or PC when I was six years old from my saved money.
That's quite practical. That's not a lollipop.
That's impressive.
It was not a laptop. It was this big TV PC. I remember playing in NBA Live on this. That was one of my first experiences.
Did you want it for the video games? What exactly were you doing with it?
It was mainly for gaming at the time.
Question number two, what's the first thing you remember selling in your life?
If from childhood, then we used to have, in school, those days when everyone prepares something. They either cook a cake or make something unique, a handmade material. There is, in the school, market day where you sell your items there. You improve your sales skills. I was nine years old there. I had some cake I made with my mom. That was the experience. I remember selling that cake standing in the market in the middle of the classroom.
What is the most recent thing you purchased?
That's an easy one. I did my open water diving course here in the Philippines. That was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life so far. It was amazing.
It’s awesome. I got mine earlier this 2023. I'm doing my first dive trip soon and I'm super pumped by this. It's amazing. It’s awesome.
I didn't expect it to be so fascinating. I did diving once with the instructor, but then, you can dive on your own as well.
It's powerful. It's peaceful down there. There's so much you can see. Shout out to everyone out there. If you're reading and you ever to do your diving course, I will recommend it. It sounds like Vilius will, too. What is the most recent thing you sold?
From my physical items, I sold my PlayStation. I was like, “I don't have enough time for this,” so I decided to give it to someone else.
Question number five, what is your most prized possession?
That's a tricky question. From which angle do you want me to answer?
What are my options?
Probably, if not monetary value, then it's family and friends.
Question number six, if you could buy anything in the world, digital, physical, physical, service, or experience that is for sale, what would it be?
I wouldn't mind having one of the CryptoPunks in my collection, one of the Bored Apes. Going back to the market, that would be the answer.
That sounds good. That sounds appropriate.
Those are two solid projects to be owned, for sure. If you could pass on one of your personality traits to the next generation, what would it be?
Probably persistence and never giving up on things you do. That's a very important aspect. All of us sometimes give up, but it is the ability to stand up and continue the things we like.
It is very important to have persistence, to never give up on the things you do. Click To Tweet
That's a great trait. You need it in the world of Web3 where three months feels like an entire year. On the flip side of that, if you could eliminate one of your personality traits for the next generation, what would that personality trait be?
That's, on the flip side, willingness to learn. I know the next generation is very tech savvy, but don't forget real life as well as human interactions. That's probably one of the important things as well. Work and technology are so important, but as well, don't forget your personal life.
That sounds good. I’m much appreciative of that angle. Question number nine, what did you do before joining us on the show at 3:30 AM?
I woke up. That’s the best answer. Is there going to be a flip-side question as well?
Yes, but I'm curious. Was there some sort of chilling shower involved in making this all happen?
Definitely. I have to take one.
I happened to do a cold shower this morning, too, so we got something in common.
It's very effective.
It does the trick. Question number ten, on the flip side, what are you going to do next after the show?
Admin work, and then probably going to have a few more hours of good sleep.
It makes sense.
As we wrap up, this is the final question or the bonus one. You told me that you got your diving license. Where's your first dive going to be?
I’m probably going to do it here still while I'm in the Philippines. Diving is very great here. It has one of the best surfaces and experience. It's probably going to be until I'm here. I'll try to do one.
That’s awesome. I'll have to follow up with you to see where the good spots are so I can check it out one day.
This is good stuff. Have fun. Make sure you get enough sleep and enough cold showers where it is appropriate. That was a fun segment. We'll have the next one, which is Hot Topics where we hit some of the news of the day. Let's start with this one. Revving up the NFT Market, Mattel is unveiling a Fast and Furious collection. You can get into the world of Fast and Furious, and it won't cost you a pink slip to your car. Timed alongside the release of the latest installment of the Fast and Furious film franchise, iconic toy maker Mattel is set to launch the newest edition of its Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series based on the global blockbuster series on May 22, 2023.
It is very interesting. Hot Wheels was one of those players. I remember as we did the show, you would see who was jumping in. It is one of those things where it seems like it made a lot of sense. I wonder if there's a history of collectibles. It’s a human thing. We like to collect things. Beyond that, there are always within the human population, the collectors, that are even more beyond that. Did you ever get into collectible cars or have you been watching what’s going on with Hot Wheels?
I was a big fan of collectibles when I was a child. I assume most of you collected those baseball or basketball cards when there was no internet. It's good to see that everything transitions into digital space. I haven't collected Fast and Furious cards and Hot Wheels, but hopefully, I'll get a chance. I’m a big fan of Fast and Furious.
I’m the same. I've seen all the Fast and Furious movies. We'll admit that. I am a huge Hot Wheels fan. When I was a child, I collected so many Hot Wheels. I'm sure back in my parents' house in some old toy box, I have all of them still. My inner child is very happy to hear about this collaboration and that it’s being brought into the NFT world.
Little cars are fun. They are fun to drive around, race them around, and do cool stuff with them. It says the Hot Wheels NFT Garage, and Fast and Furious Collection will reside on the Flow Blockchain. We were talking about Dapper Labs earlier. It is featuring cars from movies including Dominic Torreto’s 1970 Dodge Charger, Brian O'Conner’s 1969 Camaro, and Suki’s, played by Devon Aoki, sister of DJ NFT magnate, Steve Aoki, Honda S2000 from Too Fast Too Furious. The limited edition NFTs will sell for $20 a pack. It sounds pretty reasonable in digital.
I don't know if there's much else to say about that. It was fun to check out. Let's check out this next one about Jack Butcher. Jack Butcher is expanding the Checks NFTs ecosystem with physical print-backed Elements collection. Jack is the Founder of the creative agency, Visualize Value, and the artist behind the Breakthrough Checks VV NFT collection. It's releasing a new project. That’s the Checks Elements. It pairs generative artwork with hand-drawn physical prints.
This is like a walk down memory lane. For me, having started the show and watching the various things going on, Jack Butcher was a very early NFTs, “What are they? What does it mean?” He was making art around it and making NFTs. He continues to be a character that people look to for an opinion with integrity, creativity, knowledge on the topic, and things like that. Do either of you guys follow what Jack's up to?
It is not as heavy as when he first came and hit the market. He was a voice in different ways. You can even get involved and do some cool stuff. It is cool to see that he's keeping it going.
The concept of visualizing value, I appreciate in general. I was, for those that aren't paying attention to every episode you might read every once in a while, I did my PhD in neuroscience. I got into, at the time, data visualization. I became pretty good at making cool data visualizations, but at the same time, there are people that are way better than me.
There is a great software called Processing, which I learned to use to code art and data visualization stuff. NYU had a program called the ITP or Interactive Telecommunications Program. It was a Master's program where you could go at the end of the semester and you could see all these cool projects that people were doing in innovative design. Oftentimes, there'd be some cool visualization and stuff. Jack is particularly fascinating because he does his visualizations in this very simple consumable way. Vilius, did you have another comment?
No. I said that I need to follow this. I haven't been following Checks.
It looks like cool stuff. I encourage the audience to go check that out. It looks to be a promising new project and should be fun. Let's move on from Hot Topics to our next segment. That next segment is going to be wrapping up here. We like to give a shout-out. Vilius is probably going to shout out Lympo, so we'll skip that. Before we roll out, we always like to check where the audience can go to learn more about you and the projects you're working on.
Twitter is the main space for all the news on Digisport. @DigiSportXYZ is the handle. Lympo.io is for the Lympo overall company. Also, our main platform for interaction is Discord. If you go to Lympo.io or @DigisportXYZ, you can find our Discord link there and join and chat with our community members. Our community is quite active, so you're going to have some of those OGs who going to guide you through all periods of time and are going to introduce you to all the new things that we are building.
That’s awesome. That sounds great. I encourage the audience to go check that out. Also, you guys are generous. You're doing a bit of a giveaway for us, doing some allowlist spots for your community as well. We can put out the word on our socials. The episode should get on time to share about that happening before it's too late. If you are reading this, it's a very tight timeline, so jump on over to our socials and make sure you get involved in that giveaway with Lympo.
We have reached the outer limit of the show. Thanks for exploring with us. We've got space for more adventures on the starship. Invite your friends and recruit some cool strangers that will make this journey all so much better. How? Go to Spotify or iTunes. Rate us and say something awesome. Then, go to EdgeOfNFT.com to dive further down the rabbit hole. Find us on all major social platforms by typing EdgeOfNFT. Start up a conversation with us online. Lastly, be sure to tune in next time for more great NFT content. Thanks again for sharing this time with us.
Important Links
- Lympo
- Digisport
- Watch.OuterEdge.live
- Animoca Brands
- YouTube - Edge of NFT Podcast and Outer Edge LA
- Visualize Value
- @DigiSportXYZ - Twitter
- Discord - Lympo
- Spotify - Edge of NFT Podcast
- iTunes - Edge of NFT Podcast
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