Sports and entertainment blockchain token Chiliz (CCC:CHZ-USD) is up more than 50% in trading today, notching a market cap greater than $1 billion in the process. The surge today comes after CHZ-USD rallied more than 200% last week, showcasing strong ongoing investor enthusiasm for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Over the past month, CHZ-USD has skyrocketed from around $0.022 on Feb. 8 to a current price of $0.287. Trading volume hit a new 24-hour record yesterday of $1.92 billion, and Chiliz coin was the fastest-growing cryptocurrency over that same time period.
Fundamental analyses from late 2020 and early 2021 have been blown out of the water by the year-to-date performance of CHZ-USD, hugely boosted by widespread interest in NFTs. Digitalcoin currently has Chiliz price predictions that the token will reach $0.44 by the end of the year, and $1 by 2026.
Chiliz is the blockchain platform underpinning Socios.com, a fan engagement service that allows sports teams to sell fans special perks, such as voting on team jersey designs or early access to tickets. Those perks are sold as “fan tokens” on the blockchain, similar to recent smart contract NFT sales by Kings of Leon and others.
CHZ-USD is the platform’s primary currency, exchanged for fan tokens and other goods. Last year, the company partnered with UFC to sell event tickets in exchange for Chiliz coin. A recent fan token release for the AC Milan football club generated more than $6 million within 30 minutes of launch, giving an indicator of general consumer interest in these products.
The company announced last week it would be investing $50 million in a U.S. expansion. The company also said it was anticipating a five-fold increase in fan tokens on Socios.com in 2021. In 2020, fan tokens generated $30 million in revenue for sports clubs and other partners; the company aims to double that this year.
Also last week, Chiliz coin was added to cryptocurrency exchange OKEx. OKEx is conducting a giveaway of $150,000 worth of fan tokens to incentivize CHZ-USD trading; that giveaway ends on March 10 at 2 a.m. Eastern.
On the date of publication, Vivian Medithi did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
