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FIFA World Cup 2022: A Catalyst for Cryptocurrency Adoption?

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, and due to a large amount of crypto-related sponsorships, it could be one of the most significant events of the year in terms of helping to promote crypto into the mainstream.

Sporting events are well-known for providing fantastic platforms for businesses to advertise their products and gain exposure to a diverse audience from all walks of life.

After the Olympics, the World Cup is likely the world’s second-largest sporting event, making it an ideal venue for bitcoin entrepreneurs to present their case to a worldwide audience in an effort to encourage awareness and adoption.

Earlier this year, the cryptocurrency exchange company Crypto.com was picked as one of the event’s key sponsors, potentially exposing the platform to a global audience of five billion users.

Crypto.com has been one of the most active firms in terms of marketing to sports fans, with the company running much advertising during the Super Bowl and acquiring the naming rights to the Staple Center, a multifunctional arena in downtown Los Angeles.

The firm is now attempting to attract a broader global audience through the World Cup and has enlisted the help of payments processor Visa, which handles transactions for Crypto.com debit cards.

As part of the arrangement, Visa will auction out five non-fungible tokens (NFTs) depicting notable goals from previous World Cups. According to Visa, the auction will be open until November 8, with all proceeds going to charity.

During the World Cup, fans will be able to build their own NFTs by competing in four-minute, six-on-six bouts at the FIFA Fan Festival.

An interactive playing area will capture their movements and generate unique GIFs that can be colored to match their favorite national team. Once made, fans can have their GIFs delivered to them as NFTs via their Crypto.com account.

FIFA’s official blockchain partner

Another business that hopes to benefit from FIFA World Cup exposure is Algorand, which was awarded FIFA’s official blockchain partner in May. FIFA praised Algorand in the original collaboration announcement for being “founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali” and a “green blockchain technology enterprise.”

In an era of escalating costs and environmental concerns, FIFA was drawn to Algorand’s ability to enable high-speed, low-cost transactions while leaving a small environmental footprint.

As part of the deal, Algorand will provide FIFA with the official blockchain-supported wallet solution and will assist the organization in developing its digital assets strategy.

“This connection with FIFA, the most globally famous and distinguished organization in sports,” said Silvio Micali, CEO of Algorand, “will demonstrate the potential that the Algorand blockchain has to revolutionize the way we all experience the world’s game.”

Focus

The FIFA World Cup may boost worldwide crypto popularity.

After the Olympics, the World Cup is likely the world’s second-largest sporting event, making it an ideal venue for bitcoin entrepreneurs to present their case to a worldwide audience in an effort to encourage awareness and adoption.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, and due to a large amount of crypto-related sponsorships, it could be one of the most significant events of the year in terms of helping to promote crypto into the mainstream.

Earlier this year, the cryptocurrency exchange company Crypto.com was picked as one of the event’s key sponsors, potentially exposing the platform to a global audience of five billion users.

Crypto.com has been one of the most active firms in terms of marketing to sports fans, with the company running much advertising during the Super Bowl and acquiring the naming rights to the Staple Center, a multifunctional arena in downtown Los Angeles.

The firm is now attempting to attract a broader global audience through the World Cup and has enlisted the help of payments processor Visa, which handles transactions for Crypto.com debit cards.

As part of the arrangement, Visa will auction out five non-fungible tokens (NFTs) depicting notable goals from previous World Cups. According to Visa, the auction will be open until November 8, with all proceeds going to charity.

During the World Cup, fans will be able to build their own NFTs by competing in four-minute, six-on-six bouts at the FIFA Fan Festival.

An interactive playing area will capture their movements and generate unique GIFs that can be colored to match their favorite national team. Once made, fans can have their GIFs delivered to them as NFTs via their Crypto.com account.

FIFA’s official blockchain partner

Another business that hopes to benefit from FIFA World Cup exposure is Algorand, which was awarded FIFA’s official blockchain partner in May. FIFA praised Algorand in the original collaboration announcement for being “founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali” and a “green blockchain technology enterprise.”

In an era of escalating costs and environmental concerns, FIFA was drawn to Algorand’s ability to enable high-speed, low-cost transactions while leaving a small environmental footprint.

As part of the agreement, Algorand will supply FIFA with the official blockchain-supported wallet solution and will also assist the organization in establishing its digital assets strategy.

The opportunity this partnership presents for Algorand was not lost on Silvio Micali, who stated, “This partnership with FIFA, the most globally recognized and distinguished organization in sports, will showcase the potential that the Algorand blockchain has to transform the way we all experience the world’s game.”

The ECB is stalling the digital euro, while the Euro Coin is being pushed to Solana.

The growth in adoption during the last World Cup in Russia suggests that the upcoming World Cup may have an impact on global bitcoin acceptance.

While mitigating conditions, such as international sanctions imposed on Russia, have pushed citizens into crypto as a workaround, an increased propensity was already present before 2022.

Meanwhile, according to Chainalysis, bitcoin usage in the Middle East will outpace all other geographic regions by 2022, with the UAE seeking to become a global cryptocurrency powerhouse.

Following the massive amount of exposure that cryptocurrencies will gain at the World Cup, there is a significant chance that adoption rates will continue to climb for the foreseeable future.

With cryptocurrency startup Chiliz (CHZ) collaborating with some of the world’s most well-known football clubs to create their own exclusive tokens, the chances for fans to engage have never been greater owing to blockchain technology.

And, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup likely to be Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup, at least as players at their best, there are going to be plenty of critical moments that supporters would like to have stored as unique NFTs that can be bought, traded, and saved on the blockchain.

The success of fan tokens for Mesi and Ronaldo‘s national teams, Argentina (ARG) and Portugal (POR), which have gained around 50% in the last two weeks, demonstrates such demand.

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