Blockchain authentication outfit Third Millennia — founded by science fiction icon William Shatner — has partnered with Mattereum, a London-based "digital twin" trading platform, to launch an initiative focused on nonfungible token provenance.

"Digital twins" refer to real-world asset NFTs, or rwaNFTs — tokenized versions of concrete appurtenances.

According to a printing argument issued on Monday, the articulation initiative will feature rwaNFTs based on memorabilia and props from Shatner's iconic graphic symbol Captain James T. Kirk of the seminal sci-fi series Star Expedition.

The collectibles catalog volition besides include props from Boston Legal, where Shatner played the character Denny Crane, as well as merchandise from movies like Titanic and Logan's Run. The items will exist auctioned on the OpenSea NFT market subsequently in the week.

Equally part of the collaborative initiative, Ocuver — a service under the Third Millennia umbrella — will certify the authenticity of each digital twin. Using smart contract protocols, Mattereum will reportedly record these certified proofs on the blockchain via asset passports.

According to Mattereum, asset passports are a third-party digital identification protocol developed by the company to cosign the identity of digital twins. Mattereum's partnership with Third Millennia will encounter the extension of the protocol toward NFT collectibles.

The partnership comes amid significant involvement in the NFT infinite as entities from outside the crypto industry join blockchain's expanding metaverse. For Shatner, the collaboration is a positive step in ensuring robust provenance tracking capabilities for all stakeholders in the digital collectibles arena.

Commenting on the need to combat counterfeiting in the NFT space, Tertiary Millennia CEO Paul Camuso remarked:

"With apocryphal goods being and so readily bachelor, there needs to be a organization in identify for consumers to feel safe in purchasing luxury brands, art, and collectibles. Tertiary Millennia's organization of authentication is an effective method for ensuring consumer confidence in goods purchased in the primary and secondary markets. Consumers can feel bodacious that what they are ownership is 18-carat and the system takes the dubiety out of the history and provenance for futurity generations."

The NFT provenance initiative is hardly Shatner's first foray into the crypto and blockchain space. Equally previously reported by Cointelegraph Magazine dorsum in June 2020, the actor has been advocating for increased adoption of the emerging tech since 2019.

In July 2020, 125,000 NFT trading cards featuring Shatner's personal life and career sold out in mere minutes on the WAX blockchain.

Celebrity involvement in the NFT space is also gaining footing with the likes of skateboarding legend Tony Militarist and Linkin Park co-founder Mike Shinoda auctioning their own NFTs.