FIFA fan tokens down by up to 90% since the start of the World Cup
The tokens are becoming less and less reactive to the success of their associated teams
Image: Dylan Martinez / Reuters
Contrary to what one would usually expect, the cryptos imitating national football teams have lost a major chunk of their value since the start of FIFA World Cup 2022.
The associated crypto fan tokens between Spain, Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil, have fallen by 60 to 90 percent in value since the World Cup started on November 20, despite Brazil, Portugal, and Argentina reaching the quarter-finals. Spain too was a strong contender until December 6, when they got knocked out.
These tokens were initially designed to offer the fans a new way to interact with the team that they support, such as allowing those who have the tokens to vote on small decisions such as what's to be written on their team's captain's armband.
However, the critics of fan tokens see the fan token market as a predatory technique used by experienced traders to gain profits off of inexperienced enthusiastic fans.
"We see the price of tokens being driven up in anticipation of football events like signings or titles," said Martin Calladine, author of The Ugly Game, adding that, "traders cash them out, prices crash, and fans are left sitting on losses — victims of their enthusiasm for their clubs."
