Aventus Selected to Power New Parity NFT Marketplace
New auction site will generate revenue for female athletes by auctioning NFT artwork
London, October 19, 2021: Aventus – a layer-2 blockchain protocol that brings scalability, speed and lower costs to Ethereum transactions – today announced the full launch of its partnership with US-based Parity in launching the Parity NFT Marketplace. A pilot non-fungible token (NFT) auction site, the Parity NFT Marketplace is a key part of Parity’s work to create new revenue streams for women athletes and narrow the gender pay gap in sports.
The pay gap between male and female athletes has always been wide, and has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. According to a report from FIFPRO, a global association representing professional football players, nearly half of football unions (47%) say female players’ club salaries/payments were reduced or eliminated during the pandemic. Providing female athletes with a new, independent revenue stream is an extremely important step forward in bringing true pay parity to sports.
Designed specifically for female elite athletes to generate revenue by selling NFTs, the Parity NFT Marketplace is powered by a bespoke white-label marketplace, built on the Aventus Network. Bids for NFTs listed on the marketplace will be made in Ethereum or USD and processed via the Aventus Network. Using a layer-2 solution like Aventus Network mitigates high Ethereum transaction fees (or gas prices), which can reach $30-$50 per transaction, ensuring that athletes will always receive more than 90% of each NFT sale.
Globally, over $2.5B of NFTs were sold in the first six months of 2021. This is now one of the most talked-about e-commerce sectors, and the Parity NFT Marketplace helps to position women athletes as one of the early adopters of this technology, helping to redefine the revenue opportunities for women’s sports.
The Parity NFT Marketplace launches 19 October with the Legends Series, a collection of unique pieces by New York-based artist Borbay. The collection looks at legendary female athletes and their personal and professional lives, exploring how they have broken down gender and industry barriers for future generations.
Athletes included in the initial Legends Series include:
- Athletics legend and heptathlon record holder, Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- WNBA Hall of Famer, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke
- Team Canada hockey gold medallist, Jayna Hefford
Alana Casner, Parity Vice President of Athlete Content and Strategy, said: “The Parity NFT Marketplace will put women athletes at the forefront of technology, business and sport, rather than having them as an all-too common afterthought. Our marketplace will deliver initial revenue when NFTs are first sold and provide ongoing revenue for athletes each time their NFT is sold on the secondary market. The Aventus team understood the ambitious scope of our vision from the outset, and their technical knowledge is unmatched. The Legends Series is an exciting beginning to our collaboration.”
Alan Vey, Founder and CEO Aventus, said: “Our partnership with Parity demonstrates the power of blockchain beyond business and finance as a tool to action meaningful change. In the case of Parity NFT, blockchain has the power to transform how income is distributed and revenue is earned in professional sports. This partnership also marks Aventus Network’s entry into the NFT space – but the journey is just beginning. Never before have digital assets had the same scarcity, uniqueness, and proof of ownership as physical ones. We truly believe that NFTs have significant potential to revolutionise customer engagement and how revenue is distributed in the world of sports, art, music and beyond.”
