The football cosmos wants to move with the times and at the same time make up for the losses caused by the pandemic. To plug the holes in the vaults, major football clubs are now selling their own cryptocurrencies, also known as fan tokens.
Numerous clubs such as Barcelona, \u200b\u200bParis Saint-Germain, Juventus, as well as the national teams of Portugal and Argentina have issued such fan tokens. In Switzerland, the Bernese Young Boys are involved.
During the World Football Cup in Qatar, clubs’ fan tokens are now booming, despite the current crypto crisis following the FTX scandal. According to Paris-based crypto data firm Kaiko, the daily trading volume for these specific football cryptocurrencies increased from around $32 million in October to an average of $300 million in November. “So there is a tenfold increase in volume, which is too big for these tokens,” says analyst Dessislava Aubert.
Benefit of the fan token
These types of fan tokens are not the same as stocks. There is no profit sharing, but they aim to bring fans closer to the clubs. Token holders can have a say in certain decisions. For example, what goal music is playing in the stadium or what message should be in the player’s cabin. Owners also have the opportunity to take advantage of some special offers of their clubs.
Fans get it: According to a BBC study from early 2022, €300 million has already been spent on fan tokens. According to the news, about half of the sales revenue will go to the clubs. For example, Barça received around one million euros just one hour after the token sale started.
Messi got part of his commission with PSG coins
Some clubs use fan currencies as an object of speculation. For example, the tokens of Juventus and PSG are traded on common crypto platforms. Events in the real world of football naturally have an impact on their value, as demonstrated by the transfer of superstar Lionel Messi when PSG prices rise sharply.
Messi even received some of his free transfer commission to PSG in the form of in-house fan tokens.
So now football cryptos are booming again. According to data from analytics platform CoinGecko, the overall market cap for fan tokens increased to $401 million in the opening weekend of the football World Cup, compared to $256 million a decade ago.
Digital asset platform Matrixport expert Markus Thielen said that football fans’ interest in fan tokens could quickly fade. “Companies and teams selling these tokens must now regularly offer higher value, otherwise users will quickly lose interest after the World Cup.”