Steph Curry jumps into NFTs with $180,000 purchase of Bored Ape digital artwork

• Stephen Curry has bought a $180,000 ethereum-based NFT from the Bored Yacht Club collection
• The NBA star made the purchase on August 28 for 55 ether, according to the token's profile on OpenSea.
• Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 ape NFTs that live on the ethereum blockchain.

NBA superstar Steph Curry has joined the digital asset boom with an approximately $180,000 purchase of an ethereum-based non-fungible token from the Bored Yacht Club.

The two-time MVP made the purchase on August 28 for 55 ether, according to the Bored Ape Yacht Club profile on NFT auction platform OpenSea.

He made the announcement known by updating his Twitter profile photo with his new asset: a bored-looking blue-furred ape that's wearing a tan tweed suit with zombie's eyes. The Golden State Warrior star also posted a selfie photo to the club's Discord chat.

Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 unique ape NFTs that live on the ethereum blockchain. Owning a Bored Ape NFT will double as an exclusive membership pass to the community's various activities, such as access to The Bathroom, a collaborative graffiti board.

Curry's ape, according to the NFT's profile, is quite rare. Of the 10,000 in the collection, only 1% are wearing tweed suits, 3% with zombie's eyes, 5% with blue fur, 13% with yellow backgrounds, and 23% are looking bored.

Previously, his ape was sold only for 1.5 ETH ether and 0.68 ether prior to that.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club was created by four friends who, according to its website, "set out to make some dope apes, test our skills, and try to build something (ridiculous)."

Since its inception, the collection has amassed around 5,400 owners. On average, an ape has sold for 24.99 ether or roughly $79,000 as of publishing and has had roughly 132,700 ether or $419 million worth of volume transactions

NFTs have soared in popularity this year. For the month of August alone, OpenSea has seen $2 billion in transaction volume, according to data from The Block.

The tokens are digital representations of artwork, sports cards, or other collectibles tied to a blockchain, typically on ethereum. Each NFT has a signature that can be verified in the public ledger and cannot be duplicated or edited.

When people buy NFTs, they gain the rights to the unique token on the blockchain, not the artworks themselves. But the fact that the information on a blockchain is next to impossible to alter makes NFTs appealing, especially to collectors and artists.

Still, experts believe the space is still nascent and has ways to go before becoming mainstream. Challenges to overcome include interoperability, scalability, and accessibility.