William Shatner launches Infinite Connections NFT

Actor and cryptocurrency enthusiast William Shatner entered the world of Web3 by releasing his Infinite Connections NFT during the Consensus 2023 conference last Thursday.

Developed by Web3 entertainment company Orange Comet, this collection includes two sets: Cosmic Explorer, featuring 2,500 NFTs of Shatner’s 3D avatar of the legendary actor accompanied by artwork exploring scientific themes, and Timeless Voyager, which offers 1,000 NFTs of 2D artwork depicting future technology and the cosmos. Each Cosmic Explorer NFT also includes a physical action figure of Shatner’s landmark role, Captain James T. Kirk, hand-signed with a quote from the character. Although Timeless Voyager doesn’t come with an action figure like Cosmic Explorer, select holders can expect access to unspecified real-life opportunities.

“NFTs are slowly becoming more artistic,” said Shatner, who is best known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, to CoinBase. “These, developed by Orange Comet, are among the most artistic that I’ve ever seen.”

The collection showcases images of Shatner merged with sci-fi and tech-themed visuals, such as his face being filled with lit strings that curve and overlap. There is also imagery of his head linked to high-tech machinery resembling a helmet from the popular Halo.

According to Shatner, these images illustrate the correlation between mathematics, romance, stars, and quantum physics and the philosophies hidden within them.

Interested buyers can purchase Shatner’s collection via WilliamShatnerNFTs.com using either crypto or traditional credit card payments. The release was timed with Shatner’s appearance at Consensus 2023.

NFT Romance

The release marks Shatner’s latest foray into the crypto world, which he has been vocal about on social media. Shatner first entered the NFT market in 2020 when his 125,000 trading cards on the Wax blockchain, including one featuring an X-ray of his tooth, sold out immediately.

Shatner, however, admits that his expertise lies in emotions, drama, and beauty. Only later, he became interested in NFTs after discovering their malleability and creativity.

“I know nothing about how to program… but what I do understand is emotions, and drama, and beautiful things,” said the actor. “It’s the romance, its the future, its things that are happening to young people that I wanted to be a part of.”

During the conference, Orange Comet CEO Dave Broome spoke about how the deal with Shatner was made and praised his intellectual curiosity.

“This is a man at 92 who is still inquiring, and still has an ability to learn and embrace technology and understanding what it could do,” said Broome. “What we’re interested in doing is taking someone like iconic, legendary William Shatner and all of the millions and millions of fans that he has, and bring them over into Web3.”

Shatner’s NFT release arrives during a changing phase for NFTs, where the extreme hype and multi-million dollar sales of Beeple’s artwork have subsided. However, celebrity NFT drops have been notably resilient.

When asked if Captain Kirk would be interested in crypto, Shatner said he believes crypto will grow exponentially and value by the time his universe is reached.

“It’ll be so many thousands of dollars in value – the crypto coins – that I would think that the people today that are gonna live two or three hundred years are gonna buy crypto now before it explodes!” he told the conference audience.

Despite the popularity of the crypto “doomsayers” idea that fiat currency will collapse, Shatner does not support it and believes that the United States will thrive in a crypto-based future.

Although the actor himself does not invest in crypto, he is open to the possibility of it having value to others, stating that “if enough people think it’s something, then it is.”

Former US President Donald Trump also released an NFT collection in the past, and Shatner sees a comparable opportunity for himself, with potential releases from other crypto-curious and -native celebrities, even those from the “Star Trek” franchise.