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Over the years, football's relationship with technology hasn't always been a positive one. Only a few years ago, David de Gea's move to Real Madrid was halted due to a fax machine that was too sluggish to process the transfer. However, there has been a breakthrough, as cryptocurrency has made its way into the world of sports betting.
David Barral, a former Real Madrid striker, made transfer history in early 2021 when he became the first footballer to be signed using Bitcoin as payment, becoming the first player to do so. The move was announced on Twitter by the Spanish team Dux International, which stated, "He becomes the first signing in history to be made entirely of cryptocurrencies." It would not have been feasible without the support of Criptan, our new sponsor".
However, they are not the only team to have experimented with the cryptocurrency market in the past. Rimini FC of Italy's Serie C sold 25 percent of their interest in the club using Quantcoin, AZ Alkmaar's players were the first in the Netherlands to be paid in Bitcoin, and Watford of the Premier League wears the Bitcoin emblem on their jersey.
What exactly is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin, like any other kind of money, serves as a means of trade. When it was originally established in 2009, it was the world's first totally virtual money, and it was the first of its kind. It was constructed using a technique known as cryptography, which 'basically is the skill of knitting multiple encryptions of code together,' according to David Cockayne, a senior lecturer in business and sports management at the University of Liverpool.
The essentials are as follows:
There are no notes or coins, and the value is shown as a number on a screen.
Bitcoin is produced via a process known as'mining,' which takes place on supercomputers and involves complicated programming.
Bitcoins are not printed; instead, they are created by individuals and companies throughout the globe who are operating computers.
The sports industry has realized that digital payment systems have the potential to attract sponsorships while also increasing the amount of money earned from fan engagement. What do you mean? Through the use of fan tokens.
Supporters may simply download an app and purchase tokens that provide them access to and control over specific topics at their favorite team, such as the design of the club's uniforms and the music played before matches.
Fans' tokens, according to Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of the fan token platform Socios, are just the beginning of a shift in the interaction between fans and their favorite teams.
"We feel that fantasy games and digital assets in general will undoubtedly, if not completely, revolutionize football, but they will be a part of the disruption that is required to truly bring sports and football a little bit closer to the fans." "We believe that in the next five to ten years, the connection between supporters and the club will evolve from that of a passive fan to that of an active fan," he says further.
Socios already have more than 60 clubs to their credit, including footballing behemoths like as Barcelona and Manchester City, among others. Even Lionel Messi has gone on board, getting fan tokens as part of his welcome gift at Paris Saint-Germain, but not everyone is on board with the idea.
"They claim it's all highly cryptographic and very technical," says the author. We don't understand it, but it's very cool,' says the group. David Gerrard, a financial specialist, states that
The crypto aspect is purely for marketing purposes, and the tokens are mostly used by fans to exchange for merchandise or to purchase items from the store. I don't see many of them gaining traction in the future.
"Don't fall for the marketing hype. Take a look at what it truly does, what you get as a fan, and what it accomplishes for the club." David Gerard is a writer who lives in New York City (Finance Expert)
The NFT, also known as 'non-fungible tokens,' is another cryptocurrency by-product that is gaining popularity. In the same way that actual collector's artifacts are treated as digital assets, NFTs are treated as digital assets in which unique data is added to the files to establish ownership. Whatever it is, it may be anything from a video or photograph of a landmark athletic milestone, such as Messi's first-ever goal, to digital trading cards, although some may come at a high financial cost. An extremely rare digital NFT card showing Cristiano Ronaldo was just sold for a whopping€353,400, making it the most expensive digital NFT card ever sold.
Cryptocurrency may be complicated, and it may be volatile, but it is here to stay. As the explosion of interest in digital currencies continues to grow, and as more football teams embrace them, are we on our way to a future when Bitcoin salaries, choices made by fans on apps, and virtual card trade are commonplace?
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