Almost 10,000 images of tennis balls plunge up to 90% in value as Australian Open appears to ditch NFTs

One of the tennis ball artworks created by the Australian Open’s Artball program and sold as non-fungible tokens. Photograph: AO Artball 2023 artwork created as part of the 2023 NFT launch.

Nearly 10,000 images of balls have plunged up to 90% in value after Tennis Australia appears to have walked away from its non-fungible token (NFT) program three years after it began selling the artworks to punters.

Launched at the peak of hype around NFTs, the Australian Open’s Artball program allowed keen fanatics to buy 6,776 ball artworks sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are linked to 19cm x 19cm plots on the court at Melbourne Park. In 2023, the Open had an additional 2,454 NFTs on offer.