Futbol Club Barcelona's president Joan Laporta announced on Monday that the club intends to create a Barça metaverse and the club's own cryptocurrency. He revealed this on the first day of the mobile industry's most important annual event, the Mobile World Congress 2022, where the football club leader was speaking about the club's digital future. Barça's famous slogan, "More than a club" must move into the 21st century, said the president, and accordingly, Barça must be digitized. That's why Laporta explained from the Keynote Stage of the Barcelona trade fair centre that "our players will be there in the metaverse" and that "we want to create a Barça cryptocurrency", adding that "in not very long" the club will create its first own Non-Fungible Token (NFT).
‘Blockchain’ is one of the words which is on everybody's lips at this edition of the MWC event. And the acronym NFT - referring to cryptocurrencies like that proposed by Barça - is also in the air for similar reasons. NFTs are, in fact, certificates of ownership of virtual or physical assets; in recent years there has been an increase in the marketing of such assets. And blockchain is a technology based on a distributed and secure database that can be applied to many types of transactions - it is the technology on which elements such as NFTs and metaverses - 3D virtual worlds linked to social media - are based. Joan Laporta referred to both concepts as he outlined Barça's plan for its digital future.
"Barça is passion and excitement, and technology will help us push this essence all the way," said the Barça president. Although Laporta has insisted on more than one occasion that "money is not the most important thing" in a football club, the club's top official has acknowledged that the digitization of the club is a legitimate way to compete against other clubs “that have big companies or countries behind them”.
It should be remembered that the new sponsor whose name will appear on Barça shirts will be the music streaming platform Spotify, but that Vegan Nation had been strongly rumoured to be in the running. The latter is an Israeli company that bases its business on cryptocurrencies and blockchain. During his appearance, Laporta stated that Barça is constantly "looking for new sponsors" and that the new digital world must mean "democratization, inclusiveness and communication".
The Barça president also recalled that the club collaborates with startups. "Barça has always been innovative in the use and adaptation of new technologies, and we want it to continue to be so; we know that blockchain will be important in the coming years, and the club does not want to miss these opportunities", he added. He said: "Soon we will be able to offer digital products to our members and fans; it will be a type of product in line with the club's values".