Chiliz (CHZ) is on fire. The token that empowers sports fan engagement is up over 125% in the past 30 days. Chiliz has over 120 partnerships with various sporting teams, primarily soccer, but also other sports such as American football, hockey, tennis, and more. By buying team tokens, sports fans can access exclusive benefits such as meeting their heroes, attending VIP events, or getting signed merchandise.
Many cryptos are struggling to make much headway against adverse economic winds, but progress toward a major upgrade has put Chiliz on a winning streak. Top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have gained around 4% and 22%, respectively, in the same period, according to CoinMarketCap data.
All ABout Chiliz
Chiliz (CHZ) is the native token of Chiliz, a blockchain network that powers the Socios fan engagement app and lets sports fans purchase fan tokens on the Chiliz sports exchange.
By exchanging CHZ for fan tokens, holders can vote on decisions for their favorite teams, gain access to exclusive platforms, and can receive rewards from their teams.
What’s driving Chiliz’ price surge?
The main reason for Chiliz’ dramatic price gains is that the project is on the verge of moving to its own blockchain. After almost six months, Chiliz Chain 2.0 — or CC2 — is in its final stage of testnet development. The next step will be a move to the mainnet, dubbed the Habanero phase, which is what’s got investors fired up.
The idea behind CC2 is to make the whole project more scalable and create more utility for the CHZ token. Chiliz was originally built on the Ethereum ecosystem, which struggles with high gas fees and network congestion. Moving to its own blockchain will mean Chiliz — and its sports team partners — can escape these restrictions.
“Ethereum transactions are fundamentally too expensive for the average web3 user and the current version of the Chiliz Blockchain is not optimized for web3 deployment,” said a blog post. The new blockchain uses a proof-of-stake validation model, which will give the CHZ community more opportunities to benefit and play a role in Chiliz’ evolution.
Should you invest in Chiliz Today?
Chiliz is a solid project that’s been on our watchlists for some time. It’s a crypto that has many real-world partnerships and offers utility outside of the crypto world. Fan tokens are an interesting area — they can help build community and give fans exclusive benefits. The move away from Ethereum could reduce gas costs and pave the way for more development.
However, Chiliz is not without its risks. For starters, it’s always good to be wary of crypto that’s surged over 100% in a month. The crypto industry is rife with speculation and it’s hard to know how sustainable the recent frenzy will be. Added to this, developing a new blockchain could open Chiliz to unexpected technical and security issues.
It is the early days for fan tokens, and there’s a lot for investors to research. For example, some sports enthusiasts have opposed the whole concept of fan tokens. Some worry about the risks of crypto, others object to having their passion monetized. In the U.K., one football team landed in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority for promoting the sale of its tokens.
