Snoop Dogg and Lionel Richie jump in on NFT craze as Crypto.com launches a token marketplace

• Snoop Dogg and Lionel Richie have signed up to produce NFTs for Crypto.com's new marketplace.
• It is the latest sign of the craze for non-fungible tokens, a form of digital collectors' item.
• Earlier this month, Beeple sold an NFT artwork for $69 million.

Snoop Dogg, Lionel Richie and Boy George are moving into the world of non-fungible tokens, having signed up to produce work for cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com's new NFT marketplace.

It is the latest example of the craze for the crypto technology, following the sale of a $69 million NFT artwork earlier in March and the popularity of the NBA's Top Shot token market.

Crypto.com - a cryptocurrency exchange with more than 10 million global users - will launch an NFT platform on Friday as it seeks to capitalize on the trend, the company said on Tuesday.

It will feature sports, art and music NFTs from the likes of the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One racing team, online artist BossLogic, and TikTok sea shanty star Nathan Evans.

Lionel Richie - one of the best selling music artists of all time - will team up with digital artist Klarens Malluta to produce an NFT for cryptocurrency exchange's invite-only platform.

In a statement released by Crypto.com, Richie said he is "looking forward to collaborating with [Malluta] on a digital piece and with a little 'All Night Long' in this new medium."

Snoop Dogg, who has previously tweeted enthusiastically about meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin, will also produce work for the platform. UK 1980's pop icon Boy George will also create content for the platform, saying: "Digital art is a new emotion."

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a special class of digital assets that cannot be exchanged with one another for equal value, or broken down into smaller bits. They often operate as a type of collectors' item and cannot be duplicated.

They are the hottest new thing in the crypto world, and grabbed global attention earlier in March, when digital artist Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million, making him one of the three most expensive living artists.

Crypto.com said it is trying to create "the most user-friendly NFT-buying experience."

"At launch users will have the option to 1-click buy using their credit or debit card. Any collector, or fan, will be able to acquire, trade, and resell NFTs through the platform, regardless of whether or not they are a Crypto.com user."