Beijing football club launches NFTs ahead of its virtual stadium launch

February 13, 2023

By Sharan Kaur Phillora

Beijing Guoan Football Club, a professional soccer team in the Chinese Super League (CSL), released GLEO on Sunday. GLEO is a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT) that can be used as avatars in the club’s virtual stadium, which will open next year.

Here’s what we know: 

Over the weekend, the former CSL champions started a 10-day lottery that will give away 10,000 free NFTs to the winners. The football club said on Tuesday on its official WeChat account that it plans to make more NFTs.

The NFTs were issued on China Mobile’s Shucangbao, a platform for digital collectibles that runs on the Zhong Yi Chain blockchain and is owned by the state. China Mobile was one of the first companies to join the Blockchain-based Service Network.

Some of the best football teams in the world, like FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, have started selling collectibles and fan tokens to get closer to their fan. Last July, Sotheby’s sold the first NFT from Barcelona for $693,000.

Football isn’t the only sports people are interested in on the blockchain. According to CryptoSlam, NBA Top Shot, a collection of NFTs with basketball video highlights from the National Basketball Association, ranks seventh in all-time sales.

Even though many businesses in China have started using NFT and metaverse-related products, the country’s market regulator warned about illegal ways to raise money using blockchain-based ideas.

About the author

Sharan Kaur Phillora’s thirst for knowledge has led her to study many different subjects, including NFTs and Blockchain technology – two emerging technologies that will change how we interact with each other in the future. When she isn’t exploring a new idea or concept, she enjoys reading literary masterpieces.

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