With the news of pro-footballer Messi moving to PSG — how has the price of the PSG fan token reacted?
![PSG Fan Token: Will Messi's Transfer Skyrocket the Price? [Updated 1 Day Ago]](https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/06b1893e06464c328edb26785451013b.jpg)
The PSG fan token has taken the cryptocurrency markets by storm. The token nearly touched an all-time high of $56.04 by soaring to $55.31 in the past 24 hours, beating some of the market's top cryptocurrencies by increase on the day in the process.
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PSG Token’s Sudden Rise Holds a Valuable Lesson
The upcoming transfer of footballer Lionel Messi from Barcelona to Argentina has opened up a new channel for cryptocurrencies in sports. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is likely to join Paris Saint-Germain, and while no contracts have been signed yet, PSG fan token prices have increased 2X over the past week.
A fan token is a cryptocurrency created by a sports team that may be used to purchase merchandise, vote on critical club decisions and have a say in other club activities. PSG's fan token debuted last year and the token's price rose to $44 immediately (from about $29 at launch) after Messi revealed that PSG was in the running to be his next club.
PSG is trading at over $55 at the time of writing this article, up from $23.57 on Aug. 2. The increase in the value of PSG's fan token may be regarded as proof that the crypto industry's venture into sports is paying off. Manchester United and Arsenal of England, as well as AC Milan of Italy — some of the world's wealthiest clubs — have their own crypto fan tokens. Even national football teams released their own fan tokens before the Euro 2020-21 football tournament took place in May.
The performance of PSG's fan token demonstrates that cryptocurrencies may be used to assess fan opinions for specific club decisions. While every fan would welcome the arrival of one of the world's top football players, teams might utilize fan tokens to measure reactions ahead of time to choices that may influence their supporters.
PSG Token Historical Data
The Paris Saint-Germain football club's fan token, also known as PSG, allows its holders to gain voting rights over some aspects of the Paris Saint-Germain football club. The PSG token has had a bumper year thus far in terms of price: it started trading in 2021 at $12.7 per coin, eventually reaching an all-time high of $56 on Apr. 26, 2021.
Since then, the crypto market has plummeted overall, with prices down over 40% from all-time highs. The PSG token's price had likewise dropped from its all-time high; however, the token recovered in part and is now up by 300%+ year-to-date after surging to $55.31 in the last 24 hours.
The speculated reason for this price surge is widely known in the football world — Lionel Messi’s potential transfer to the French Football League’s top club — Paris Saint-Germain.
Why Did Messi Leave Barcelona?
The 21-year love story between Messi and Barcelona has ended despite Messi taking a 50 percent reduction in pay as part of his proposed contract extension. This significant pay cut was due to the rules and regulations introduced by the Spanish football league (La Liga being the top men’s division) back in 2013, which subjected the teams to a variable salary cap and acquisition expenses at 70% of club earnings.
Following a substantial reduction in profits due to the COVID-19 outbreak, FC Barcelona entered the summer offseason needing to slash well over $200 million in compensation in order to retain Messi. The Spanish club, however, wasn’t able to find anywhere near that amount owing to a dearth of transfer activity across Europe. Both the club and Messi decided on Aug. 5 that any contract extension was off the table due to the current scenario.
Observers note that the inability to keep on Messi is not technically La Liga’s fault, but rather FC Barcelona's failure to abide by the regulations of the league.
However, many had seen the recent news of large private equity investment into La Liga and its teams as assisting Barcelona in making the financial progress required to practically secure the Messi agreement. According to projections based on La Liga's revenue-sharing formula, Barcelona would get a financial influx of almost $300 million from the private equity money, with 15% going to player signings.
However, two of La Liga's most severely indebted teams, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid — both original members of the unsuccessful breakaway European Super League — have stated their opposition to the private equity agreement with CVC Capital Partners, which is still up for a vote among La Liga's 42 clubs.
Accepting the proposal, according to several analysts, would have entailed the two giants monetarily committing themselves to La Liga for decades to come — this would have destroyed their Super League ambitions, or at least put them on hold. It's the only explanation for why Barcelona, which is allegedly more than $1 billion in debt, would reject such an investment, which would have been comparable to the proposed Super League's estimated financial advance.
And so the Messi & FC Barcelona story came to an end. The club released an official statement on Aug. 5, stating:
Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of Spanish La Liga regulations on player registration. As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.
According to several reports, Lionel Messi’s transfer to PSG is already finalized. The French club has offered Messi a two-year contract for £25 million per year after taxes, which the six-time Ballon d'Or winner and his agents are now evaluating and assessing. A final decision can be expected at any time now.
Will PSG Fan Token Continue Its Meteoric Rise?
On Aug. 5, the PSG token was valued at $22.34. After Messi was linked with PSG, the token began its journey up and is now trading at a little over $55 as of press time.
Lionel Messi is not a common player in the world of football. The Argentinian is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, having won the highest honor in football — the Ballon D'Or trophy for a record-breaking six times throughout his illustrious career so far. After leading Argentina to its first major prize in almost two decades, he is set to win his eighth award this year.
Football fans are ecstatic at the thought of Lionel Messi forming a lethal attacking partnership alongside Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe. It may be a good sign for the PSG token that all three attacking players have a fan base of millions all around the world.
At the moment, it seems that Messi’s addition to PSG might further increase its price. The reason for this is speculated to be the formal announcement in the coming days from PSG, officially unveiling Messi as a PSG player. Such a huge event will be covered on every major football news channel, and this just might take PSG token’s price to an all-time high.
However, the volatility of the crypto market is a black box to predict. And since the PSG token is a fan-based coin — fan sentiment in the world of football does not need much time to plummet. Right now, the popularity of the coin is linked with Messi’s transfer to the French club, and after this news becomes history, the PSG token may re-stabilize.
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