Fan tokens are a bridge for fans to interact with their favorite teams

In major football tournaments in Europe and America, an emerging part of the world of digital currencies called “fan tokens” has been noticed. These tokens are different from regular digital assets. Fan Tokens are issued by national teams or sports clubs and allow fans to engage commercially with their favorite teams.

According to Tekna’s technology news media cryptocurrency service, activity has increased in tokens related to teams participating in the Euro 2024 European Championship and the Copa America in North and South America, which starts a week later. The market capitalization of the Chiliz cryptocurrency, which is the main cryptocurrency of the Socios blockchain (hosting most of the major fan tokens), has grown from about $687 million at the beginning of the year to more than $1.07 billion, according to data from CoinGecko. This figure is close to the levels observed during the 2022 World Cup.

According to Kaiko data, fan token trading volume has also increased in recent months, reaching more than $170 million on May 24, compared to between $25 and $57 million for most of January. The total market value of listed fan tokens is around $413 million (CoinGecko data).

This summer of sports could be a major test for fan tokens, which typically offer benefits such as participation in sweepstakes, early access to tickets, discounts on fan merchandise or the chance to vote on minor decisions like game songs.

Proponents of these tokens hail them as an example of a real-world application of digital currencies. However, critics emphasize the tension between the stated goal of team engagement and the speculative and risky nature of tradable assets.

A Chiliz spokesperson emphasized that the company’s marketing has made it clear that “fan tokens are tools for fan engagement and should be used as such.” Portugal‘s fan token is up around 2% in the past 30 days to $2.94, while Argentina‘s token briefly touched its highest level since 2022 at $2.46, although both tokens are still They are far from their peak around the 2022 World Cup.