Summary
1. Chiliz's strength lies in 'not chasing trends and continuously focusing on sports × blockchain'
Since its inception in 2018, Chiliz has positioned fan tokens as 'tokenized membership programs', consistently focusing on sports IP. By not expanding into trendy use cases and concentrating on the sports domain for over eight years, Chiliz has established a unique position in the industry with an IP network and long-term trust that others cannot easily replicate.
2. Redesigning tokenomics and strategic investments in the US, Japan, and Brazil are central to growth strategy
Chiliz is currently refocusing on the US market, expanding into Japan and Brazil, and concentrating on redesigning the tokenomics of fan tokens. This includes a natural reward design through staking and, in the future, introducing a mechanism where the supply fluctuates based on team performance, evolving fan tokens into 'assets that reflect emotions'. This is a new attempt to merge fan engagement with asset value.
3. Prioritizing regulatory compliance in the Japanese market, with a focus on tokenizing domestic sports IP and international expansion
In Japan, Chiliz is advancing market entry in full compliance with regulations, centered on a joint venture with SBI Digital Asset Holdings, including whitelisting and launching on official exchanges. The initial focus is on deepening understanding through famous foreign clubs, followed by a full-scale effort to tokenize domestic sports IPs such as the J-League, NPB, and B-League. In the future, the goal is to promote Japanese sports IP to the global market and realize the long-term vision of 'merging fandom with ownership'.
━━Chiliz offers over 70 types of fan tokens through 'Socios.com'. Please tell us about the current status of the project and your strategy through these fan tokens.
Max Rabinovitch (hereafter, Rabinovitch): The core of our strategy regarding fan tokens has essentially remained unchanged since the project's launch in 2018.
At that time, we had the idea of a 'tokenized membership program'. This was quite an early concept even by the standards of the blockchain industry.
We were the first company to tokenize IP such as soccer and mixed martial arts, as well as eSports, as membership utility tokens. This mechanism allows fans and traders to purchase tokens and gain benefits such as voting rights.
Initially, we focused on 'token-gated engagement' such as check-ins, quizzes, and event participation. Points accumulated based on service usage could be exchanged for tickets, merchandise, or interaction events with players. During the pandemic, we also offered many digital experiences, such as meet-and-greets with players via Zoom.
The fundamental value of being recognized by the team for holding tokens remains unchanged, but the way we deliver this value has significantly evolved.
For example, we are now focusing on a system where simply staking tokens yields reward points.
We consider this a very natural user behavior. In the future, we plan to further evolve our tokenomics, such as varying the token supply based on team performance.
For instance, we might burn supply if the team wins and mint more if they lose. This will make fan tokens 'programmatically emotion-reflective assets'.
━━What are Chiliz's strengths and how do you differentiate from competitors?
Rabinovitch: My answer might be very non-technical, but our strength is in 'not following trends'.
Many crypto projects tend to chase numerous trends and cover many industries and use cases.
However, we chose to aim to be the world's best by merging sports with blockchain. We were confident in our actions and philosophy, and understood that focusing on the niche of 'sports × blockchain' was the shortcut to success.
By concentrating on this one area for over eight years, we have built a network and trust with sports IPs that others cannot easily replicate.
In the crypto industry, there are many instances where collaborations with sports teams or brands have damaged reputations, but we are trusted as an entity that 'does not disappear', 'does not break contracts', and 'provides long-term value'. This is what differentiates us from our competitors.
