Tennis Player Sells Space on Body as NFT

There’s no question that NFTs are on the rise, but Croatian tennis player Oleksandra Olinynykova is selling more than a digital collectible. 

Olinynykova sold a 6-inch-by-3-inch space on her right arm as an NFT on digital goods marketplace OpenSea. The buyer, a user named JumpHigh, can use the space for a permanent tattoo containing anything besides “extremism” or gambling and betting.

She is the first woman to make an NFT on her body, but “body billboards” aren’t exactly new. A trend in the early 2000s earned athletes willing to advertise on their skin between $5,000 and $100,000. Boxer Bernard Hopkins made six figures when Golden Palace paid him for painting an ad on his back.

The buyer can also invest in the skin area by leaving it blank to resell in the future. Olinynykova told Sportico she believes there will be “at least a 100x return” if they choose the latter route.

“I will bring your art, object, or message to every tennis court I play,” she said. “As I am 20 years old only and my sports career is on the rise, I believe it’s [going to] be the biggest tennis locations in the world.”

OpenSea uses Ethereum blockchain and its cryptocurrency. Olinynykova’s NFT sold for three Ether, or around $5,415, just six days after it was put up for auction.

Olinynykova isn’t the only tennis player making headlines for NFTs this week. Tennis player Jessica Pegula launched limited edition NFT trading cards, which made her the first U.S. female athlete to do so.