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| Age | 90 |
| Place of birth | Montreal, Canada |
| Category | Advocate |
| Alma mater | McGill University |
| Known for | Mattereum, Wax, Star Trek |
Biography:
William Shatner is a Canadian actor and producer with a media career spanning seven decades. He is best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, in Star Trek: The Original Series. He has embodied countless film and television characters, including on shows such as T. J. Hooker, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Practice, Boston Legal and many more.
In his private life, Shatner is known to enjoy breeding American Saddlebreds and Quarter horses, which he also exhibits competitively. His philanthropic work has included selling his kidney stones for charity and raising millions of dollars for children in need.
Shatner’s 2020:
Shatner reentered the crypto spotlight in June when he tokenized some of his favorite memories on the Worldwide Asset eXchange blockchain — a series that sold out instantly. Speaking with Cointelegraph back in June, Shatner explained that “It’s critically important both to the person who wants one unique thing, or someone who spends a great deal of money on a very expensive object and wants to be sure it isn’t a counterfeit.”
An avid user of social media, particularly Twitter, Shatner’s musings on provenance have the potential to reach 2.5 million users on Twitter alone, bringing real-world uses of the technology to new audiences.
For the spacefaring actor, blockchain is familiar ground at this point. He previously dabbled in the industry in 2019, having sold a number of collectibles whose provenance can be tracked using distributed ledger technology in partnership with London-based blockchain start-up Mattereum.
In early 2020, Mattereum’s collectible authentication platform went live on the Ethereum blockchain. Its first client was a company co-founded by Shatner himself called Third Millennia. In the months since, Shatner has spoken with clarity on blockchain’s role in fighting collectibles fraud and has campaigned directly for the technology’s proliferation.
On the entertainment side, Shatner released a blues album in October titled The Blues to generally favorable reviews.
Shatner’s 2021:
William Shatner will continue his screen career in the upcoming comedy film Senior Moment, alongside veteran actors Christopher Lloyd and Jean Smart. He is also the host of a popular paranormal television series, The UnXplained, scheduled to premiere its third season in the first quarter of 2021. And in March, he will celebrate his 90th birthday.
While it is unknown how Shatner intends to further advance his advocacy of blockchain technology, it is likely that his mission to eradicate collectables fraud is not yet at an end — and he just may wind up tokenizing more himself.