Lionel Messi is partly paid in crypto coins after his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. The French club said that the so-called ‘fan tokens’ are part of the ‘welcome package’ of the 34-year-old attacker-cum-Argentine international and were made available by socios.com, the provider of the club’s crypto coins. Only a limited number of such club-linked digital coins are available.
PSG did not disclose the amount of crypto coins, but did report that Messi has received a ‘large number’. The full financial agreement has not been disclosed. With the arrival of Messi, the price of the PSG token in the already popular crypto market is expected to rise rapidly, and with it the income of the star, who is on PSG’s payroll for 35 million euros per year.
PSG reported that many have been traded following initial reports that Messi would be coming to the club. The PSG token rose 130 percent in value in five days and traded more than $1.2 billion between buyers and sellers in the run-up to its arrival. The first phantoken of les Parisiens is now selling for just over €33 each on crypto platforms and the combined value of all PSG tokens on the exchange is currently €43.8 million.
Owners of ‘fan tokens’ have a say in small decisions about their club. In addition to PSG, Barcelona, AC Milan and Manchester City, among others, have also released this cryptocurrency. The 1.3 million ‘Barca fan tokens’ were sold out in a few hours at the beginning of this year. According to clubs, this increases the involvement of fans worldwide. For example, the owners are eligible for special promotions and also have voting rights, until now mainly on small matters within a club.
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