NFT, Metaverse Opportunity Extraordinary For Disney, But Bob Iger Cautions On Copyright Issues With OpenSea

Many companies are pushing into the growing industries of non-fungible tokens and the metaverse. Former CEO and Chairman of Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) Bob Iger shared thoughts about what the opportunity could be in the space for his former company.

What Happened: Iger spoke with New York Times journalist Kara Swisher and predicted Disney could have big things ahead in the NFT space.

“I think you’re going to see an explosion of things being created, traded, collected in NFTs," Iger said on the Sway podcast. "They can be digital and they have meaning to people."

One concern of NFTs Iger has is over copyright protection.

“I went on a platform called OpenSea and I was amazed at all the Disney stuff that was there, and most of it was pirated. Most of it was not created by people who had the right to create them.”

Iger said Disney also has ambitions to grow in the metaverse space, but is worried about toxic behavior.

“I think something Disney is going to have to consider as it talks about creating a metaverse for themselves is moderating and monitoring behavior.”

Related Link: What Is A Non-Funbile Token?

Why It’s Important: Disney could have one of the largest portfolios of characters, something not lost on Iger.

“When you think about all the copyright and trademarks, characters Disney has, and the NFT possibility, they’re extraordinary,” Iger said.

Disney partnered with digital collectibles platform Veve to launch NFTs of Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar characters. Outside of that deal, Disney has been relatively quiet in the NFT space.

The comments from Iger come as he left the company at the end of 2021. Investors will be eager to hear if Disney agrees with Iger.

DIS Price Action: Shares are down 1.85% to $141.80 Wednesday morning at publication.

Photo: Josh Hallett via Flickr Creative Commons