Animoca Brands Joins Chiliz Chain as Validator, Boosting SportFi Ecosystem

• In an effort to increase fan engagement and revenue-generating interactions in the sports industry, Animoca Brands has become a new validator on the Chiliz Chain by integrating its blockchain innovation with Chiliz’s SportFi initiative.
• SportFi, an initiative pioneered by Chiliz, exemplifies the convergence of blockchain technology and commodification within the sports sector. By enabling supporters to become engaged in the teams and companies they love, it improves the way fans connect financially with their preferred sports organizations.
• Both parties want to lead the way in developing Web3 apps that are centered on sports via this partnership, with Chiliz maintaining its status as the primary blockchain platform for the sports and entertainment sectors.

As part of the ongoing decentralization of Chiliz Chain governance, Chiliz today revealed that Animoca Brands has become a validator and prominent participant on the network. The Chiliz Chain, which was introduced earlier this year, is a Web3-ready project accelerator that enables sports organizations to use blockchain technology to reward their fan groups for involvement.

Animoca Brands is a well-known leader in blockchain innovation in the gaming and digital entertainment industries, with a specific emphasis on the sports industry. Some of their products include AFL Mint, ONE Fight Arena, REVV Motosport (which includes Formula E: High Voltage, MotoGP™ Ignition, and MotoGP™ Guru, REVV Racing, Torque Drift 2), and Anichess.

Moreover, Animoca Brands takes an active role in determining the direction of the Chiliz SportFi ecosystem by joining the Chiliz Chain as a node validator. With this move, Animoca Brands may now be a part of Chiliz’s flourishing network of Web3 sports operators and premium sports brands.

Animoca Brands becomes a part of an established validator network that already consists of Ankr, Paribu, Meria, Luganoes, and InfStones. These validators use the Proof of Stake Authority (PoSA) node to operate on the Chiliz Chain. In addition to validating Chiliz Chain transactions and guaranteeing the safe execution of smart contracts, validators also authorize and facilitate the development of Fan Tokens, NFTs, and decentralized apps (dApps), which are all essential components of the network’s governance and security.

The Evolving Chiliz Ecosystem

Leading sports companies are quickly relocating to Chiliz Chain, a Web3 hub where developers are free to experiment with new ideas and create industry-first SportFi apps. By eliminating the whitelist, Chiliz has opened up the Chiliz Chain ecosystem and made it simpler for developers to implement SportFi solutions.

On Socios.com, the Chiliz Chain has already been deployed with over 80 Fan Tokens from prominent sports teams, including FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Juventus, S.S.C. Napoli, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, and A.S. Roma.

The most popular digital asset for fan interaction in the sports industry, Fan Tokens are driven by their growing usefulness and can now be traded on a number of marketplaces, such as Binance, OKX, Bitget, Paribu, ChilizX, and others. In the Chiliz ecosystem, there are already a number of community applications (like Socios.com), custodial solutions (like BitGet Wallet, Magic Link, Fireblocks), and soon-to-be DeFi lending and DEX solutions (Lenx, PepperSwap).

The Chiliz ecosystem also includes social gaming platforms, digital sports collectibles, incentives and interaction-driven community platforms, football and football manager games, and a variety of metaverse-based sports games.

The Forthcoming Installment of Chiliz Chain and SportFi

Chiliz continues its mission to serve as the main blockchain infrastructure provider for the sports and entertainment industries with the addition of Animoca Brands to the ecosystem. This marks the start of an exciting and comprehensive partnership. A strategic partnership that has the potential to influence the direction of these interlinked digital worlds is being shown by both organizations’ amplification of a network impact that encompasses GameFi, DeFi, and SportFi.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, stated:

“Becoming a participant in the Chiliz Chain is an opportunity to meld our expertise in NFTs and gaming with the robust sports and entertainment Chiliz ecosystem. We have already seen the rise of DeFi and GameFi, and we believe that SportFi represents the next major growth area that will redefine fan engagement and create new financial dynamics in the sports industry. We look forward to the impactful innovations that will emerge from this collaboration.”

Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz, added:

“We’re not just operational; we’re spearheading SportFi through the Chiliz Chain. Bringing Animoca Brands onboard as a validator heralds a pivotal acceleration in our journey to become the de facto blockchain for sports and Web3 convergence, bringing more value to sports properties, fans, users, and blockchain developers.”