Fan Tokens: An In-Depth Overview

If you’re into crypto or a sports fan, you’ve probably at least heard of fan tokens by now. They’re an innovative new way for fans to become closer to their favorite teams and players, and they’re making quite an impact in the world of cryptocurrency. From the Premier League to the NBA, there’s practically no sport that doesn’t have its own set of fan tokens. So if you’re not up on this trend yet, here’s what you need to know.

What is a Fan Token?

A fan token is a form of cryptocurrency that groups offer to give special benefits and access to fans who own tokens. The most popular fan tokens are based on sports teams across the globe. From soccer to football to fighting, there’s fan tokens for every type of sports fan. Fan tokens are often compared to NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens); however, they have some important differences. NFTs themselves are often unique, and NFTs in the same project are valued differently because of their different characteristics. Fan tokens are more like cryptocurrency due to the fact that they are uniform in value. Fan tokens can be bought and sold for profit.

An important thing to note is fan tokens hold value in the benefits that they provide – we covered notable fan tokens from national teams earlier this year that have been gaining value. Most sports related fan tokens give the token holders the right to vote in certain club decisions. Some tokens give the token holders rewards or exclusive access to events. When a team issues a fan token, it’s an efficient way for the team to raise capital. Although fan tokens are similar to holding stock because holders can have voting rights, they are very different from holding shares of stock because the holder doesn’t own any of the entity issuing the fan token. 

What is the Perk of Owning a Fan Token?

As mentioned above, owning fan tokens can have a lot of perks. Popular perks include being able to vote on team decisions, access to exclusive digital content or and private fan communities. However, fan tokens aren’t only designed for sports. Fan tokens could be used for bands, or loyal customers of a brand. Fan tokens can give exclusive access to events or in the case of a brand – exclusive merch. The fan tokens created in anticipation for the World Cup are one of the first fan tokens to gain massive popularity. One European soccer team has an exclusive stadium entry for token holders. Along with the benefits of owning fan tokens, it’s also potentially an asset. Fan tokens can be bought and sold for profit like cryptocurrencies, which on top of the exclusive benefits is where the recent draw has been. Many speculative investors are pouring in to get their hands on fan tokens as we get closer to the World Cup.

What are the Top 5 Most Popular Fan Tokens?

Right now there are almost 30 fan tokens with a market cap over $1 million. Most of them involve soccer teams, but there are a few racing teams involved as well.

1. The most popular fan token by market cap is the Santos FC Fan Token (SANTOS). Santos FC is a Brazilian soccer club based out of Sao Palo, Brazil.
2. S.S. Lazio Fan Token is offered by Binance. S.S. Lazio is a professional soccer team based in Rome, Italy.
3. The Alpine F1 Team Fan Token is the non-soccer based fan token in the top 5 list. F1 has grown in popularity in recent years, so it’s great to see a fan token in this realm.
4. The FC Porto Fan Token was released in 2021 by Binance. The FC Porto soccer club is based out of Portugal and plays in the Primeira League.
5. Round out the list is the Paris Saint-Germain Fan Token. PSG is one of the most popular clubs worldwide. The PSG fan token was launched in 2020 by Socios.

How Can I Buy Fan Tokens?

Fan tokens are bought on exchanges, which are marketplaces where buyers and sellers come together to exchange goods. Some of the more popular exchanges that offer fan tokens are Socios and Binance. Both of these exchanges have partnered with different teams to mint fan tokens. Binance, being one of the largest overall crypto exchanges, is a great place to start buying fan tokens, especially if you already have an account – especially since Binance has Chiliz which is the blockchain platform of many esports. However, Socios has announced partnerships with popular American sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, and NHL. All you need to do to buy a fan token is research which exchanges sell the token you’re interested in and then make an account on that exchange to buy the token.

It’s no surprise that we’ve seen crypto exchanges merge into the realm of fan tokens. Recently, crypto exchanges have started offering other services such as NFTs, crypto rewards cards, and fan tokens. As fan tokens become more popular, we might start seeing more competition in the fan token market. Especially when fan tokens merge into other markets than sports.

Wrap Up.

Fan tokens are a fun and easy way to invest in groups and teams that you love. Not only do they create positive return opportunities, but they also give the holders exclusive team benefits. If you want to gain access to exclusive events or other perks, we’d definitely recommend looking into fan tokens for your next crypto purchase.

FAQ

Below, we’ve included some questions that are related to fan tokens.

Can I Buy Multiple of the Same Fan Token?

Yes, you can buy multiple of the same fan token; however, just because you own multiple of the same token doesn’t necessarily give you more benefits than other holders. If you’re looking to buy fan tokens as an investment, you’re probably more inclined to buy more than one of the same token to make the investment worthwhile.

What Should I do if I’m Interested in Crypto?

Fan tokens are very similar to crypto in many ways. If looking into fan tokens has increased your interest in crypto, definitely start looking into crypto. Cryptocurrency is a much larger market than fan tokens, so it can be overwhelming to start. We recommend learning what crypto is and which coins are the most popular. Start learning about the popular cryptos and learning about the crypto market. Although there isn’t a perfect guide to buying crypto, gaining knowledge will only help you in your crypto venture.