Crypto Gloss

Dapper Labs

Dapper Labs is a Vancouver-based blockchain entertainment and NFT company founded in 2018 by Roham Gharegozlou (CEO), Dieter Shirley, and Mikhael Naayem — the team behind the 2017 viral Ethereum application CryptoKitties, which infamously congested the Ethereum network and proved NFT demand. Dapper Labs built the Flow blockchain as a developer-friendly Layer 1 specifically for consumer apps and games, then launched NBA Top Shot — video highlight NFTs — which became one of the dominant NFT platforms of 2020–2021 with $1B+ in sales. Dapper Labs subsequently partnered with the NFL (NFL All Day), UFC, and others to expand the sports highlight NFT model.

Background

CryptoKitties launched in November 2017 and within weeks had 200,000+ users, causing Ethereum’s mempool to fill with transactions. This experience convinced the team that Ethereum could not scale to consumer-grade applications. Rather than build on Ethereum L2, they designed Flow from scratch — a new consensus architecture using a multi-role node model that separates consensus, execution, and verification.

Key Products

Product Description
CryptoKitties First viral NFT collectible game (2017); cats with unique genetic traits
Flow Blockchain L1 optimized for consumer apps; used by NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, UFC Strike
NBA Top Shot Licensed NBA video highlight NFTs; over $1B in sales
NFL All Day Licensed NFL highlight NFTs on Flow
UFC Strike Licensed UFC highlight NFTs on Flow
Dapper Wallet Consumer-friendly custodial wallet for Flow NFTs

Flow Blockchain Architecture

Flow uses a multi-role node model that separates:

  • Consensus nodes: Determine transaction ordering
  • Execution nodes: Execute transaction computations
  • Verification nodes: Confirm execution was correct
  • Collection nodes: Group transactions for efficiency

This architecture enables high throughput without sharding, targeting throughput suitable for millions of consumer transactions. Flow uses Cadence, a resource-oriented smart contract language designed for safety in digital asset management.

Market Performance

NBA Top Shot peaked in February 2021, with highlights selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars and secondary market volumes exceeding $200M in a single month. The market declined sharply in 2022, mirroring the broader NFT market. Dapper Labs underwent significant layoffs (2022, 2023) as the sports NFT market contracted.

Related Terms

Sources