Want to jump straight to the answer? You can buy CHZ on FTX Exchange.
Chiliz strives to be the best digital currency for sports and entertainment. The Chiliz team wants to provide a better and more integrated fan experience by letting teams reward fans and poll them for input in some decisions.
Chiliz is used to buy fan tokens on the platform’s website and app Socios.com. These fan tokens are specific to each team and let holders answer polls and get a chance to win rewards. The price of Chiliz is far below its all-time highs at about $0.28, but it still ranks in the top 60 cryptocurrencies (by market cap). Speculating on the price of Chiliz or fan tokens has been profitable for some and disastrous for others because they are volatile assets with small market caps.
What is Chiliz?
The second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, Ethereum, has an exciting ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications built on top of it. Thousands of unique projects have been clamoring to fill new niches on the network. One of the most successful of these is Chiliz.
Chiliz is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network that allows users to join the inner circle of some of their favorite sports (and e-sports) teams. Users can do this by purchasing Chiliz on a cryptocurrency trading platform and then swapping it for fan tokens on the Socios website. Currently, most of the available fan tokens are for European football teams like FC Barcelona and Manchester City FC, but some e-sport teams and motorsport clubs have fan tokens available for purchase as well. They also plan on introducing fan tokens for teams or athletes in other sports such as basketball, cricket and even mixed martial arts (like the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC).
Chiliz is trying to create a new level of engagement for fans of sports and esports that they like to call “radical fan engagement.” They utilize polls with blockchain technology to allow teams to include fans in some (usually surface level) decisions. Most of these polls are tangential to the actual games the teams play. They often ask their fans to pick out designs for the team’s social media accounts, busses, banners and the like. Some teams also use the polls to give fans rewards like a chance to meet or call one of their members. Chiliz is still a new project and hopefully partnered teams will work out the best perks for fans soon.
Brief History of Chiliz
In Q2 2018, the Chiliz team started fundraising through private sales and building the Socios website. They minted 8.8 billion CHZ tokens later in 2018, selling some privately before listing on major exchanges. By the end of 2018, two large football (soccer) clubs, Juventus and Paris-Saint Germain, became the first team partners with Chiliz. With football clubs as a foundation, other teams in different sports have joined the platform since its launch. Although their specific fan tokens haven’t been released yet, exciting new partners including the UFC and the Philadelphia 76ers should be on the platform soon.
Chiliz has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion as of June 2021. It has mostly traded sideways in the last month between $0.21 and $0.33 after plummeting from its high of $0.87 that it reached on March 13. Chiliz was not the only cryptocurrency that experienced a devastating crash and even the top players in the market like Bitcoin and Ethereum took major hits. Most of the fan tokens are also volatile and could be used to speculate on the success of teams or the platform itself.
How to Buy Chiliz
- Open an online account.
To buy Chiliz, you will need to sign up for an account on a cryptocurrency exchange that offers it. Some of the best exchanges that offer Chiliz are Coinbase, Binance and Crypto.com. Coinbase and Crypto.com both have useful apps on Android and iOS. Before you can trade cryptocurrency in the United States, you will also need to verify your identity with the exchange you chose. This entails providing your full name, address, Social Security number and a valid ID like a driver’s license.
- Buy a wallet (optional).
Devastating exchange hacks over the history of cryptocurrencies have driven many investors to ensure complete control over their assets. The most secure place to keep your cryptocurrency is in a hardware wallet. Massive exchanges like Coinbase, Crypto.com and Binance keep most of their users’ tokens offline to avoid hacks. However, if you want to keep your mind at ease and your cryptocurrencies as safe as possible, a hardware wallet is probably the solution for you.
- Make your purchase.
Now that you have set up and verified your account you can deposit fiat currency (USD, EUR, etc.) or another cryptocurrency and buy Chiliz. Most of the major crypto exchanges allow instant deposits so you can buy your CHZ as soon as your deposit comes in. Look for the CHZ pair with the currency you want to buy it with, like CHZ/USD. Once you have your Chiliz, you can send it to your Socios account to buy fan tokens, transfer it to a personal hardware or software wallet or leave it on your exchange account.
Best Exchanges for Chiliz
Best Crypto Wallets for Chiliz
Best Hardware Wallet: Ledger
Ledger is one of the leading hardware wallet brands with 2 secure and easy-to-use models. The Ledger Nano S is the simpler model and it’s perfect for risk-averse hardware wallet beginners (and experts too). The Ledger Nano X adds a bigger screen and fully encrypted Bluetooth functionality, with the trade-off of a higher price tag. Both devices have the same certified secure chip that keeps your cryptos safe from hackers and thieves. Ledger’s wallets support more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and all ERC-20 tokens (like Chiliz).
Best Software Wallet: ZenGo
ZenGo Wallet is an innovative wallet that successfully addresses the demand for simplicity and security in the crypto wallet industry. In addition to its user-friendly interface, the wallet is packed with a range of additional features, including interest and easy coin staking that further separates it from its competitors.
Although the list of supported coins are not as exhaustive as other platforms, ZenGo’s unique ability to remove the technicalities of storing crypto still makes it a great choice for intermediate to advanced traders. Bottom line, if you are happy using a purely mobile crypto wallet, ZenGo may be the best choice the crypto industry has to offer.
Trade, Sell or Convert your Chiliz
Knowing exactly how to close your position is as important as knowing how to buy into it, especially for volatile investments. Luckily, for CHZ and other major cryptocurrencies, it's quick and easy. Just sign in to the exchange account you bought the asset with, find the pair you want to sell it for and complete the trade. You can also trade your CHZ tokens in the Socios platform for fan tokens to speculate with or contribute to the team’s polls. Each fan token has a low market capitalization, leaving them vulnerable to extreme crashes. If you do decide to speculate on the price of fan tokens, make sure to watch their prices closely because they could rise or drop drastically.
Bonus section:
The future of Chiliz depends on the success and engagement of the platform. If they continue to grow their list of popular team partners they will likely attract more users. More users should mean more people buying CHZ and fan tokens, possibly driving their prices up.
Current Crypto Prices
The cryptocurrency market has cooled down since its recent trip to all-time highs for Bitcoin, Ethereum and many others. Bitcoin and Ethereum have both dropped about 45% from their highs and are bouncing in between major resistance and support levels. Some altcoins ranked in the top 10 in terms of market capitalization plummeted even more. The crash was likely driven by a recent ban on cryptocurrency services in China and Tesla’s decision to stop accepting Bitcoin as payment. The Congress of El Salvador voted to add Bitcoin as a legal tender on June 9, sparking excitement across the community, even though prices barely budged. It's impossible to know where the market may go next, but it seems like it’s at a critical turning point.
Is Chiliz a Good Investment?
Chiliz is a volatile asset and is a high-risk high-reward investment. Early investors, if they sold at its all-time highs, could have raked in more than a 1500% return on their investment. However, buyers at its highs could have suffered more than a 60% loss. Chiliz’s best use may be to purchase a few fan tokens to enjoy the perks and polls your favorite team offers. Speculating on its price or the price of fan tokens may end in catastrophic losses, but adding new sports, teams and users could drive a rise in popularity and price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Chiliz?
The founder and CEO of Chiliz is Alexandre Dreyfus.
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About Henry Stater
Henry is an expert in all things crypto. He stays up to date with all the latest coins, platforms and technologies in the field. He has particular expertise in the burgeoning decentralized finance ecosystem and loves trying out all the new platforms. He also always follows major events in other financial markets and geopolitics as a whole, especially when an event’s effects ripple through the crypto market.