Speaking to The Sports Desk podcast, James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, said: “When you’re delving into something that’s very new and unregulated, and you’ve got footballers saying ‘you can’t lose’, it’s flashing alarm bells.
“It’s just not true – of course you can lose money. [Owen’s tweet] is incredibly dangerous, especially from a trusted and well-known celebrity.”
Andy Green, one of the founders of Oceidon, the blockchain technology company partnering with Owen to release his NFT collection, added that losing money “can happen”.
Also speaking to The Sports Desk podcast, Green explained that a creator, like Owen, can launch an NFT project on Oceidon’s marketplace with a floor price which the NFT can never go below, but that floor price may be less than the initial amount invested.
However, Green stressed that Owen’s NFT project is primarily a limited edition memorabilia collection, with physical items being issued with an associated NFT and the ownership being registered on the blockchain.
The ‘off-chain collectibles’ will include watches and shirts, with Owen providing personal pictures and unique descriptions of each of his career goals.
“This is a different way to present this technology,” said Green. “We’re trying to encapsulate his career, his legacy, on the blockchain.”
Green said there was “a lot of pushback” after the tweet in May, and although the release of Owen’s NFT collection was scheduled for 31 May, it has been postponed to coincide with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which starts in November.