English Premier League soccer team West Ham United turns to blockchain to launch its own token. The “fan token,” powered by Socios.com will allow West Ham’s 40 million supporters to vote on club decisions and gain access to exclusive rewards.
The fan token initiative has already been adopted by Juventus and Paris St. Germaine and comes during a wave of mainstream blockchain adoption. Just this week, Jaguar Land Rover inked a deal with cryptocurrency platform IOTA.
West Ham United is proud to announce a partnership with @socios, the blockchain-based fan engagement platform.https://t.co/NPBs1bcww7
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) April 30, 2019
Official token of West Ham United
Launching in time for the 2019/2020 season, fans will be able to buy, collect, and “hunt” for the fan tokens. The more tokens they collect, the more influence they have over club decisions. Fans can also cash in their tokens for “once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”
The West Ham tokens will be issued by blockchain platform Socios.com and tradable against the platform’s native cryptocurrency ChiliZ (CHZ).
Chilizens!
The first Premier League team to join the @Socios platform, look forward to exchanging your $CHZ for WHU Fan Tokens when the app is live! 👏 https://t.co/j0Fs2VeM97
— Chiliz ($CHZ) (@Chiliz) April 30, 2019
In West Ham’s official announcement, the club describes the blockchain initiative as:
“A first-of-its-kind mobile app for football fans, where fans acquire the ability to vote – by buying, earning or hunting for Fan Tokens – on selected club decisions, earn club rewards and compete for once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”
What is Socios?
Socios.com describes itself as a “new app for football fans” which gives users unprecedented access to voting rights to their favorite clubs. Having inked deals with European mega-clubs Juventus and Paris St. Germain, West Ham is the first Premier League club to sign up.
The platform’s native crypto CHZ has received significant investment from Binance and Bancor. Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO & Founder of socios.com explains:
“We’re building a strong eco-system of top-tier clubs from the best and most exciting leagues across the world and are very excited to have West Ham United as the first Premier League club to drive the evolution of football fan engagement.”
Mainstream crypto adoption finally here?
It’s yet another mainstream partnership in the blockchain space. As CCN reported, Jaguar Land Rover this week inked a deal with crypto platform IOTA. The partnership will see drivers earn cryptocurrency rewards for sharing traffic information:
“Jaguar Land Rover is testing smart wallet technology that will incentive drivers to earn crypto while driving. It sounds like a commuter’s dream come true. Drivers earn crypto rewards in exchange for sharing data surrounding “useful road [conditions]…such as traffic congestion or potholes.”
BREAKING: Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with IOTA to enable car owners & drivers to earn cryptocurrency.
We’re talking digital wallets, tokens, and an entire ecosystem.
THE VIRUS IS SPREADING 🚀
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) April 28, 2019
The token rewards can then be exchanged for travel costs such as paying tolls, parking, or EV charging payments.
It seems that the next wave of blockchain adoption is centered around rewards and customer loyalty. These commercial partnership give a nod of confidence to the nascent blockchain and cryptocurrency market.
