ShareVirtual casino owner turned blockchain innovator, Alexandre Dreyfus, took to Twitter to share a Fortune.com article that detailed a reported surge in the value of the French football team’s virtual fan token: $PSG.
The token, one of a wide selection of football coins originally intended strictly for “entertainment purposes” such as interacting with online polls and events, experienced a sky-rocket upwards in its cash value since PSG’s signing of 6 time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.
The coins are based on the cutting-edge Chiliz blockchain technology that was first conceived in 2016 by the Winamax co-founder. The Chiliz technology is essentially an algorithm that determines the value of a specific virtual entity- also known as a crypto coin.
This algorithm allows the company to create virtual currencies which are used to power a consumer-oriented platform called Socios- also owned by Dreyfus.
Socios, founded in 2018, allows major football clubs and sports organizations like FC Barcelona, Juventus, PSG, and even the UFC to create virtual tokens that allow them to monetize their fan bases.
Teams and companies can choose to make their coins available to exchange on an open market- for those unfamiliar with cryptocurrency, it operates fairly similar to the stock exchange- with a few key exceptions, e.g: instead of buying shares backed up by a major company, one purchases coins that fluctuate in value based on their popularity and application.
Despite firm warnings from organisations not to use the soccer-themed coins as a financial asset- the Paris Saint-German coin was purchased at a staggering rate that saw its value almost double upon the arrival of the former FC Barcelona player.
With the recent buzz surrounding the crypto craze, as well as the internet's long-standing track record of flocking to trends and general indifference in the face of authority- it was perhaps naive of these companies to assume consumers would heed their advice.
The brain behind the platform, Dreyfus, has been an active figure in the tech industry for over 25 years. He started by founding an online interactive tourism business called Webcity in the late 90s, followed by his creation of hugely successful poker websites Winamax and Chilipoker.
Chilipoker merged with fellow site Poker777 in February of 2012 and the technology on which the site operated was acquired by the company Bally Technologies in the same year.
The fierce businessman would not stop there, however. He would go on to start a digital sports marketing company called Mediarex and purchase both the Global Poker Index and The Hendon Mob in 2013. A stunningly diverse portfolio of work by anyone’s standards.
It could be argued Dreyfus and Messi share many similarities in their respective fields. Both men have proven to be relentlessly dedicated over their lengthy careers and demonstrated a consistent ability to achieve results worlds beyond the status quo.
This knack for borderline inhuman finesse in their sports and business ventures certainly seems to result in some serious financial figures for practically anything these gentlemen touch.
We at home would all be well advised to incorporate the Dreyfus attitude in our personal journeys, our get-rich crypto endeavors, and definitely all of our high-stakes gaming showdowns in future.
If you are planning on purchasing some football tokens of your own, or perhaps just want to learn more about the groundbreaking technology behind the trendy coins- head over to Chiliz.com or Socios.com for more info.
