NBA Top Shot is Dapper Labs' licensed marketplace for NBA highlight collectibles, called Moments, recorded as NFTs on the Flow blockchain. The latest change came on 8 June 2026. Top Shot said that the video, thumbnail and metadata of every Moment are now stored on IPFS, a decentralised file network, so owners can check the media without relying on Dapper's servers. The ownership record stays on Flow. Buying a Moment gives you the NFT and a limited personal licence to display the clip. It does not give you rights to the footage, and Dapper's terms still let it suspend accounts or confiscate Moments in defined cases.
What changed most recently
June 2026: every Moment's media is on IPFS
A post on the official NBA Top Shot blog (8 June 2026, updated 9 June) says:
- The video highlight, thumbnail and metadata of every Moment are on IPFS. This applies to existing Moments, and new Moments are anchored to IPFS from the time they are minted.
- Media is stored per Set, so every serial in a Set points to the same video and artwork.
- Owners can look up a Moment in Dapper's IPFS Reference App and download its media through public gateways such as ipfs.io or dweb.link, or through their own IPFS node. No account is needed.
- The next step is to write the IPFS content hashes (CIDs) into the Edition Metadata on Flow. The post describes this work as "underway".
A Dapper Labs press release on GlobeNewswire repeated the announcement on 12 June 2026. Both announcements come from Dapper itself.
Why it matters: Flow's own post from 21 October 2025 said Moment media had been served through "a mix of onchain pointers and centralized infrastructure". Before this change, the clip a buyer paid for depended on Dapper's hosting. One caveat: IPFS files stay available only while at least one node keeps serving them.
The 2025–26 season roadmap: smaller editions, autographs, burns
The roadmap was published on 21 October 2025 and last updated on 28 March 2026. It mainly cuts how many Moments are minted:
- Commons: the non-rookie Base Set is capped at /4000 plus a /99 parallel, down from /8,000. Other Common sets are capped at /1000. Rookie Commons appear only in Rookie Debut (/1000).
- Rares: capped at /284 or fewer, parallels included. Rookie Rares are minted to /129, with /25 and /10 parallels.
- Legendaries: no mint count is above /50. Each rookie gets one regular-season Legendary, Rookie Revelation (/29, with /5 and /1 parallels).
- Ultimates: 1-of-1 sets, including "Skyline" and "Kingmaker".
- Fandom: a new open-edition set, "NBA Top Shot This", with /5, /25 and /99 parallels.
- Burn: on the day the roadmap was posted, all Common Moments minted past /9999 that were still in inventory were burned.
- Autographs: autographed rookie Moments with 25+ rookie partners, and "Signature Series" inscribed 1-of-1s for Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, Yang Hansen and Kon Knueppel.
- Other features: Set Completion Rewards now pay out packs or boxes, Trade-In Auctions and Trade Tickets are back, and team, rookie and All-Star leaderboards trigger airdrops.
How a Moment works
A Moment is a short NBA highlight video with a set, a tier and a serial number (for example #3 of 59). The tiers named in the current roadmap are Common, Fandom, Rare, Legendary and Ultimate. Edition size depends on the set and the season, so there is no single fixed copy count for each tier. Check the edition size on the Moment's own listing.
Price depends mainly on four things you can see before you buy:
- Edition size: how many copies exist, including parallels.
- Serial number: where this copy sits in the edition.
- The player and the play.
- Recent sales: how often the Moment has traded lately.
The best-known high price came from Heritage Auctions in April 2021. A Series 1 "From The Top" LeBron James dunk, serial 3 of 59, sold for $387,600. The play, from 6 February 2020, echoed a Kobe Bryant dunk. The sale took place off the platform at the market's peak, so it does not show what Moments sell for today.
What you actually own
From the NBA Top Shot Terms of Use (last updated 6 May 2025):
- The NFT: Section 4(i) says buying a Moment under the terms means "you own the underlying NFT completely".
- The clip: Section 4(v) gives you a "non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to use, copy, and display the Art" for personal, non-commercial use and approved marketplace use. The licence ends when you dispose of the Moment. App materials are "the copyrighted property of us or our licensors".
- Dapper's powers: Section 5(ii) lets Dapper, "at our sole and absolute discretion, without notice or liability", suspend or terminate an account and delete Moments' images and descriptions from the app. If Dapper reasonably believes a user broke specific prohibitions, it may "IMMEDIATELY CONFISCATE ANY MOMENTS (INCLUDING THEIR UNDERLYING NFTS)". Section 4(i) also says that, outside those exceptions, Dapper will not "seize, freeze, or otherwise modify the ownership of any Moment".
- Refunds: Section 3(i) says Dapper does not provide refunds for purchases.
- Gas fees: Section 3(ii) says you pay a gas fee on each transaction you start.
The IPFS change protects access to the media. It does not change these terms.
What does a Top Shot Moment give you?
Answer four questions about what you expect from a Moment to see which part of the terms or the platform matters most to you.
Do you expect to use the clip commercially, for example in paid content, ads or merchandise?
- Yes → The licence is personal, not commercial
- No, personal display only → next question
Could you need to move money off the platform quickly or in large amounts?
Do you expect to resell the Moment somewhere other than Dapper's own marketplace?
Do you want to check or keep the clip's media without relying on Dapper's servers?
Section 4(v) of the Terms of Use (last updated 6 May 2025) grants a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to display the Art for personal, non-commercial use and approved marketplace use. It ends when you dispose of the Moment. You own the NFT, not the footage.
In April 2021 CNN Business reported withdrawals capped at $1,000 each, paid by wire with a $25 fee, and Dapper's site said most were processed within 21 days but others could take 40 days or more. Those are 2021 figures; the current page sets today's rules.
A 2022 Fordham IP law analysis described Top Shot as a closed garden: Moments trade only on Dapper's own marketplace. Flow keeps the ownership record, but Dapper controls the marketplace and account access.
Since the 8 June 2026 announcement, every Moment's video, thumbnail and metadata are on IPFS. You can look a Moment up in Dapper's IPFS Reference App and download the media through public gateways or your own node, with no account. The files stay available only while at least one node keeps serving them.
Section 3(i): Dapper gives no refunds. Section 3(ii): you pay a gas fee on each transaction you start. Section 5(ii): Dapper may suspend accounts and, if it reasonably believes you broke specific prohibitions, confiscate Moments including their NFTs. The IPFS change does not alter these terms.
This maps your expectations to the terms and reported history in the article only; it does not value any Moment, check current fees or withdrawal rules, or say whether to buy.
Getting started
- Accounts are created on nbatopshot.com. When the open beta launched on 1 October 2020, new users needed only an email and password, and Dapper created the wallet in the background.
- New Moments come from packs, boxes and cases at scheduled drops. The 2025–26 roadmap lists drops on 5 November 2025, 3 December 2025 and 14 January 2026. Moments also come from set rewards, leaderboard airdrops and Trade-Ins.
- Existing Moments trade on the peer-to-peer marketplace. You can see the serial number and sales history before you buy.
- Dapper earns money from pack sales and from fees on marketplace sales. Reports from 2021–22 put that fee at 5% of each sale.
Risks to check before buying
- Withdrawals: In April 2021, CNN Business reported that withdrawals were capped at $1,000 each, paid by wire with a $25 fee, and that Dapper's site said "most withdrawals are processed within 21 days but others may take 40 days or more". Dapper blamed identity and anti-money-laundering checks and a surge in sales. Read the current withdrawal page before you deposit money.
- One marketplace: A 2022 Fordham IP law analysis described Top Shot as a "closed garden": Moments trade only on Dapper's own marketplace.
- Prices: CNBC reported more than $230 million in sales by late February 2021, mostly resales between users. That figure comes from the 2021 boom, not today's market.
- Legal history:
- Friel v. Dapper Labs (Southern District of New York) claimed Moments were unregistered securities. In February 2023 the judge found it "facially plausible" that they were. Dapper settled for $4 million in June 2024 and denied wrongdoing. - The SEC closed its own investigation of Dapper on 29 September 2023 without giving a reason. Lawyers quoted by Fortune said this does not mean Dapper was cleared. - Ohebshalom v. Dapper Labs, a $5 million settlement of claims that Dapper shared viewing data through tracking pixels, covers Top Shot, NFL All Day, UFC Strike, Disney Pinnacle and LaLiga Golazos. It was preliminarily approved on 19 December 2025, and the final approval hearing was set for 15 April 2026.
- Who controls what: Flow keeps the ownership record, but Dapper controls minting, the marketplace, account access and the confiscation powers quoted above.
Other Dapper Labs collectibles
Dapper runs the same Moment model under other licences: NFL All Day (American football), UFC Strike (MMA), LaLiga Golazos (Spanish football) and Disney Pinnacle.
