Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of NFTs. From the outside, the whole thing looked like a digital gold rush where people were screaming about ape JPEGs and dropping thousands of dollars on tokens that mostly served to make a few folks very rich. It felt dirty—rampant scams, artists getting exploited, and a carbon footprint so huge it made my gaming PC look like a potted plant. So when I first heard about an esports organization diving into NFTs, my eyes practically did a full revolution. But then I actually read about what 100 Thieves did with their 2021 Championship Chain—and I paused.
You know that moment when you’re absolutely sure you’re about to hate something, but then you find yourself almost, almost rooting for it? That was me. And three years later, looking back from 2026, I still think that weird little experiment is worth talking about.
So, what exactly was this thing? Back in 2021, after their League of Legends team won the LCS Championship, 100 Thieves CEO Nadeshot gave the players real-life championship chains. Later, the org decided to turn a 360-degree animated model of that necklace into a digital collectible, and gave it away to fans for free. If you’re a sports fan, think of it as the digital equivalent of a commemorative ring—except instead of buying a cheap replica, you’d get a shiny, rotating 3D object that lived in a crypto wallet. On the surface, it was just a fun fan token.
But the real genius—or maybe the real sleight of hand—was how they presented it. The word “NFT” was almost entirely absent from the rollout. They talked about a “digital collectible,” not an investment. It was like watching a magician try to convince you that his trick isn’t magic. 100 Thieves hit every pain point the NFT community had been complaining about: the drop was completely free, they covered all transaction fees on the Polygon network, they weren’t taking royalties on future sales, and they claimed minting one had the same carbon impact as sending two emails. Sounds almost too good to be true, right?
In a lot of ways, it was a breath of fresh air. Let’s be real for a second: the problem with NFTs was never that they made virtual things ownable. Physical collectibles like plastic statues or trading cards also take energy to produce, create waste, and often end up in landfills. If a digital necklace uses as much energy as a couple of emails and produces zero physical trash, it arguably holds its own against a cheap commemorative medal shipped across the ocean. 100 Thieves managed to carve out a space where you could just… enjoy a digital keepsake without feeling like you were setting fire to a rainforest.
But here’s where the spell starts to break. Even if the project was “not intended for resale,” you can’t put 300,000 free NFTs onto a blockchain and expect them to stay out of the marketplace. Within hours, people were listing them on OpenSea. Every sale on that platform meant fees for the marketplace and gas fees on Polygon—small individually, but collectively they quietly fed the very machine 100 Thieves claimed to distance itself from. The org may have covered the initial minting cost, but once those tokens were out in the wild, they became just another cog in the speculative NFT economy. And let’s not forget: Nadeshot himself was deeply invested in the NFT racket, tweeting “wgmi” and rocking a CryptoPunk avatar. This wasn’t a revolution. It was, at best, a cleverly disguised Trojan horse.
Yet, weirdly, I still can’t entirely hate it. The fact that 100 Thieves had to design an NFT that went against almost everything NFTs stood for just to avoid public backlash told me something important: people fundamentally hated the predatory stock-market energy, not the idea of owning a digital thing. When the NFT bubble inevitably burst in the years that followed—and trust me, it did—a lot of the loudest, most obnoxious projects vanished overnight. What remained, in quiet corners, were the digital collectibles that actually meant something. I’ve seen game developers give away small digital trophies for beta testers, streamers hand out animated emotes as thanks to long-time subscribers, and yes, a few more esports orgs offer free championship mementos. None of them called them NFTs. They didn’t need to.
I’m not saying 100 Thieves single-handedly paved the way for a post-NFT world. But they accidentally demonstrated that a digital keepsake can have value without being tied to a new-age stock market. In 2026, I own a handful of digital items that I actually care about—badges from a charity stream marathon, an animated sword from my favorite MMO’s 10th anniversary, even a silly pixel-art chicken from a Discord event. Not one of them is on a blockchain, and none of them are “worth” anything in dollars. They just make me smile. That’s all a digital collectible ever needed to be.
We still have a way to go, of course. Platforms need to keep finding ways to let people own and display digital goods without the buy/sell/trade trap. But if a free necklace from a League of Legends team could make me, a certified NFT-skeptic, pause and think—well, maybe there’s hope yet. Just please, don’t make me explain what an ape picture is to my future kids.
As we continue to explore the evolving landscape of digital collectibles and gaming, it's clear that the industry is still full of surprises and innovation. For enthusiasts who love to keep up with the latest trends and find value in digital experiences, staying informed about the best offerings is key. Whether you're interested in digital collectibles or hunting for the latest gaming experiences, it's always beneficial to find the right resources and communities that share your passion.
For those eager to find great deals and expand their gaming collection, exploring platforms that curate the best offers can be incredibly rewarding. DealNest is one such place where you can discover the best game deals and stay updated with the latest offers. It's a treasure trove for gamers looking to enhance their experience without breaking the bank. In the ever-changing gaming world, having a reliable source for deals can make all the difference, ensuring you never miss out on exciting opportunities.