Malta-based chiliZ has announced that Binance, one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges, will invest an undisclosed amount in its new tokenization platform for the esports and sports industries.

This project was inspired by the “Socios” crowd-management concept made popular by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and will allow both conventional and electronic sports entities to tokenize their voting rights to their fan bases. ChiliZ will introduce its platform to third-party early adopters and partners in late 2018, with a full esports rollout planned for Q1, 2019.

Given that the entrance into the conventional sports industry has a few more hurdles, the company anticipates experimentation with various teams and leagues to ramp up closer to Q3, 2020.

The investment by Binance will build on the $27 million chiliZ has already raised through its ongoing private sale. ChiliZ plans to work closely with Binance throughout its development, leveraging the exchange’s wealth of technical knowledge and resources moving forward.

In the announcement, chiliZ CEO Alexandre Dreyfus expressed his excitement towards the influx of support from Binance.

Binance’s significant investment in chiliZ will boost our current private placement offering and help us to move faster. Their support will help us deliver our vision globally, increase our visibility in the blockchain ecosystem and empower our technical vision. I’m also excited that Binance is setting-up in Malta, where we will be able to share resources, enabling a more strategic partnership.

Both companies agree that the video gaming industry, which is currently valued at $118 billion according to Newzoo, will be one of the next major industries to adopt the blockchain given the significant overlap in user and audience demographics.