Record-breaking athletes at aquatics world championships to be awarded NFTs

World records are likely to fall at the upcoming aquatics world championships.

FINA, the sport's governing body, announced on Thursday it would award personalized non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — digital assets bought and sold online — to all those who shatter individual worlds records at the meet in Budapest, Hungary, in addition to a $50,000 US bonus.

"Breaking a world record is a very special moment in any athlete's career," said FINA president Husain Al-Musallam. "We are very excited to use state-of-the-art digital technology to create a portable and permanent way of capturing athlete achievements in the pool."

In February, FINA announced a total prize pool $5.72 million would be awarded to athletes at the world championships. The competition runs from June 18 through July 3.

Watch live daily coverage of the action from Budapest on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem beginning on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. Additional weekend coverage will be available on the CBC-TV network.