While nowadays most of us buy tickets online instead of standing in line, football fans now have the opportunity to purchase their EURO 2020 tickets through their crypto wallets.
Due to a partnership between AlphaWallet, FIFA and UEFA, the tickets for the Euro 2020 football event will be tokenized, thus making them accessible to millions of crypto and football fans.
Cryptocurrencies at Euro 2020
The European Football Championship is one of the most anticipated events in the sports world and millions of people are expected to try and secure a ticket.
Now, football fans have the option to buy their ticket through the Ethereum blockchain by paying directly with ETH from their crypto wallets.
Moreover, AlphaWallet’s tokenization solutions also propel cryptocurrencies to mainstream finance, as it represents a real use case of the Ethereum network.
The tickets will also be issued on the Ethereum blockchain, where all details of the purchase and ticket will be recorded on an immutable ledger.
The event will mark one of the biggest breakthroughs in crypto since this is the first tokenized ticketing solution based on blockchain that takes place in the entire sports industry.
More than 20,000 Euro 2020 tickets will be tokenized by AlphaWallet.
More services are on the way
The organization group is also looking to offer other services through a ticketing system, including accommodation and transportation.
The CEO of AlphaWallet, Victor Zhang, stated that their role in the collaboration is to provide the technology necessary for the tokenization process, while the UEFA Exclusive Sales Agent will supply the funds, tickets and authority (trust anchor).
Zhang pointed out the advantages of tokenization:
"In this industry, all the stakeholders (event organizers, official/non-official resellers, end-users and artists) can instantly benefit from the tokenization of tickets."
He believes that through Euro 2020, new users will be able to "experience blockchain technology without even knowing it, as their tickets will already be tokenized and secured on the blockchain."
The Euro 2020 ticket system will also be able to stop some of the most common problems that are associated with football matches, such as fraud, scalping and lack of regulation in secondary markets for ticket selling.
The immutability and transparency of blockchain can ensure that the ticket selling process will run smoothly and its smart contracts implementation will monitor the selling, tracking and storage of the ticket until it reaches the buyer.
The smart contracts in the Euro 2020 ticket system can help prevent and control the fake ticket market. As a purchased ticket will be linked to an Ethereum address, its validity can easily be verified.
The blockchain also supports an automated exchange system where users can sell and transfer their Euro 2020 tickets to other users of the network in a peer-to-peer manner.
Is crypto taking over Euro 2020?
When it comes to Euro 2020, the tokenization of football tickets is not the only application of crypto technology.
In the past few months, hundreds of crypto betting platforms such as 1xBit have been preparing for the upcoming event, designing special promotions and increasing betting odds.
When compared to regular online betting, crypto betting allows users to stay anonymous and provides better odds and lower transactions fees, without depending on a third-party payment provider such as Visa, Mastercard or PayPal.
This makes online betting more available and attractive for crypto enthusiasts and may also increase the adoption of cryptocurrencies among fiat currency bettors. But will crypto betting become more popular than fiat betting in the near future?
That remains to be seen.