Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are not new to the sports industry. Some NBA teams began accepting BTC as payment for tickets as early as 2014. Since then, the relationship between sports and crypto has been rapidly evolving. Today, a firm that claims to be the world’s first ever crypto exchange for sport tokens has rolled out trading for its first sports-focused coin.

Chiliz.net, a Singapore-based sports blockchain venture and crypto exchange, has listed Juventus Fan Token (JUV), a blockchain token released by Italian professional soccer club, Juventus, in collaboration with sport-focused token platform Socios.com.

Chiliz CEO says that Chiliz token is the “Binance of sports”

The JUV listing marks the introduction of a new tradeable class of digital asset, Chiliz said in an April 15 announcement. They also highlight that the exchange is the world’s first blockchain exchange platform for sports and entertainment. Chiliz elaborated that the price of the asset will be determined by “market demand arising from factors including fan sentiment, results, tournament victories and transfer window activity.”

JUV price spikes nearly 4%, while Chiliz token is down about 5%

As announced, JUV Fan Token trading was launched at 3:00 PM CET. According to Chiliz website, Juventus Fan Token subsequently surged about 4% in five hours after listing, while Chiliz’s token (CHZ) dropped around 4%, according to data from Coin360.

Chiliz and Socios.com CEO, Alexandre Dreyfus, told Cointelegraph that JUV increased 15% in the first 2 hours of listing, with a volume of $200,000, which was mainly coming from Turkey, Italy and Japan.

Dreyfus declined to comment on CHZ price, adding that CHZ should be viewed as a token exchange now, similarly to native tokens of crypto giants like Binance and Huobi, BNB and HT.

JUV/CHZ trading on Chiliz. Source: Chiliz

Chiliz.net and Socios.com expect to list 50 sport tokens in 2020

As Cointelegraph reported, Chiliz announced the launch of a crypto exchange for sports and entertainment tokens in January 2020. At the time, Dreyfus claimed that Chiliz.net will be the first crypto exchange that does not focus on traditional crypto products.

In line with the ambitious plans announced at the launch, Chiliz now said that it’s planning to list a wide number of tokens by professional soccer teams in 2020.

The firm wrote:

“Fan Tokens for FC Barcelona ($BAR) Paris Saint-Germain ($PSG), Atlético de Madrid ($ATM), A.S. Roma ($ASR), Galatasaray ($GAL) CA Independiente ($IND) and esports giants OG ($OG) will go live on Chiliz.net in the coming months. Trading of many more Fan Tokens from the world of sports & entertainment is expected in 2020.”

Dreyfus revealed to Cointelegraph that Chiliz.net and Socios.com plan to list 50 sport tokens in 2020. The CEO added:

“We are not and will never be a normal crypto exchange for BTC and other crypto. We focus only, obviously, on Fan Tokens.”

In March, André Figer, vice president of one of the largest sporting career management companies in Brazil, also revealed plans for tokenizing soccer players.