Michael Owen's claim that his new NFTs will be the "first ever that can't lose their value" has caused quite the stir on social media.
The former England striker and Ballon d'Or winner is the latest football star to join the non-fungible token movement, which involves digital assets being bought and sold, often for large sums of cash.
Owen announced on Monday evening (May 9): "My Twitter Space is about to go live, to discuss my NFT project. Despite the critics, my NFTs will be the first ever that can’t lose their initial value."
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His followers on the platform were left confused by the comment with one replying: "Is that because the initial value is zero?"
Few seemingly took Owen's comment too seriously with one person saying: "Given that there is no footballer in the history of the game that lost his initial value more than Michael did, I don't believe him."
Another said: "Once again, Michael, I am here to tell you that you do not know what any of those words mean."
After negative comments rained in, the Daily Star reports that Owen's NFT business partner Andy Green then appeared to backtrack on the initial claims. He wrote: "Correct, we cannot guarantee or say that you cannot lose. There is always a chance. There is no such thing in life as no risk propositions. But what we can do is protect the collector as best we can and that's what the floor price protection will do."
The Athletic journalist Joey D'Urso then cleared up: "Turns out this actually means is 'you can't sell for less than you bought it for'. So if you buy for £200, when it inevitably becomes worth less, you are down £200."
He added: "Oh dear. I've been at a quiz this evening so am slightly slow to Michael Owen's NFT scheme, but can confirm he's wrong and they can definitely lose value and you probably shouldn't buy them."
The NFT market is completely unregulated and it's feared celebrities who can afford to take loses on the investments will inspire those who cannot to risk their finances and then be left down.
John Terry's collection 'Ape Kids Football Club', for example, plummeted in value by 90% earlier this year. The Chelsea legend saw his NFTs drop from £497 to £49, per The Athletic , but the high-end assets have seen sales in the millions.
Nevertheless, the Premier League is said to be considering the launch of their own NFT collection next season with several other footballers already jumping on board and buying their own.
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