The CEO and co-founder of one of the largest social media companies is turning one of his childhood memories into a non-fungible token (NFT).
Here’s the item featuring Mark Zuckerberg, which will be turned into an NFT and how it relates to his company Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META).
What Happened: Meta Platforms introduced NFT profile pictures for Instagram in May for select U.S. users. The company announced Thursday the feature will roll out to more than 100 countries and allow users the chance to feature an NFT from a collection or that they create as their profile picture.
Zuckerberg joined in and shared his little league trading card from 1992 in honor of the increased NFT expansion of Instagram. The card is being turned into an NFT and will be featured in an upcoming auction.
“In honor of expanding digital collectible NFTs to 100 more countries on Instagram and launching new integrations with Coinbase and Dapper, I’m sharing my soon-to-be NFT old little league baseball card, which somebody found and sent to me,” Zuckerberg shared on Instagram. “@mcomiconnect has the backstory on my baseball card.”
Who's on this little league baseball card? Wrong answers only pic.twitter.com/GbWHmlfxny
— Benzinga (@Benzinga) August 4, 2022
The card in Zuckerberg’s post was featured in a post by ComicConnect, who said the card was made in 1992 and given to Zuckerberg’s favorite camp counselor Allie Tarantino. Zuckerberg signed the card and 30 years later it is now a novel memorabilia item of a famous CEO.
“I’ve been telling this story for quite a while, about how I knew Mark as a camper, and it always astonishes people to see that this card actually exists,” Tarantino said. “I figure now is a good time to sell this card and put it on market.”
There is an upcoming physical auction for the graded little league trading card along with an auction of a 1-of-1 NFT of the same card that will be sold in Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).
Related Link: Meta Platforms Misses On Q2 Earnings: User Numbers, Ad Impressions, Zuckerberg's Comments And More
Why It’s Important: Meta Platforms' NFT play comes on the heels of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) featuring verified NFTs as profile pictures.
One of the stats on the card shows Zuckerberg had a batting average of .920 as an infielder in New York.
Some have questioned the almost unbelievable batting average. Barstool Sportsbook founder Dave Portnoy, who may bear a striking resemblance to the kid on the card, took to Twitter Thursday to share old videos of him playing baseball and being better than Zuckerberg.
“Oh he peaked in Little League, buddy I’d be a .320, 40 HR guy in the bigs but I have a bum shoulder,” Portnoy tweeted.
A video showing Portnoy hitting the ball featured the caption “Zuckerberg wishes had this type of pop.”
Portnoy tweeted the trading card and said “ugly motherf***** with zero pop.”
Ugly motherfucker with zero pop pic.twitter.com/IZzgSmBUPS
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 4, 2022
Zuckerberg of course went on to become co-founder of Facebook when he attended college. A love of sports and the time needed for them may have disappeared with Zuckerberg's shift to technology.
At the age of 12, Zuckerberg created a messaging program he named "Zucknet." Zuckerberg's father used the program in his dental office so the receptionist could inform him of new patients arriving without having to yell across the room.
Later in high school, Zuckerberg created an early version of music software similar to Pandora, the music streaming platform now owned by Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI).
