Fan tokens draw new users to crypto with the latest club addition, AS Roma

Cryptocurrency • July 21, 2019, 11:41PM EDT
UPDATED: July 22, 2019, 12:18PM EDT
The Block

Blockchain is stepping further into the sports arena, as cryptocurrency company Socios partners with soccer team AS Roma to offer a fan token, according to a statement from the club. 

The token will find its way to fans through the Socios app. There, it'll be tradeable against the Socios native token, $CHZ, currently listed on BitMax and KuCoin, as well as Binance DEX - Binance's decentralized exchange. The tokens are accessed on Socios.com, but housed on a separate permissioned side chain, where each club becomes a Node with Proof Of Authority (POA) from $CHZ. In order to access the club token through a Fan Token Offering, fans must first hold $CHZ.

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The move could open crypto to a wider user base, since the tokens allow fans to have a voice in their club. The tokens five supporters the right to vote on certain club decisions. They'll be set at a price of two euros, but fans can also earn them by interacting with AS Roma on the Socios app. Fans can also "hunt" tokens for free through the app's augmented-reality geo-location feature Token Hunt.

However, AS Roma isn't the only club interacting with fans through crypto. Indeed, clubs from different leagues including Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and West Ham United have all created fan tokens for supporters. Alexandre Dreyfus, chief executive & founder of Socios.com, said AS Roma's fan base along with other participating clubs draw hundreds of millions of users.

About Author

Aislinn Keely is a reporter on The Block's policy team holding down the legal beat. She covers court decisions, bankruptcies, regulatory actions and other key moments in the legal sphere, putting them in context for the wider crypto industry. Before The Block, she lent her voice to the NPR affiliate WFUV and helmed Fordham University's student newspaper. Send tips or thoughts on all things policy and legal to [email protected] or follow her on Twitter for updates @AislinnKeely.