Pricing: How much will Fan Tokens cost?
The cost of the Fan Tokens is decided by the club, but all Fan Tokens will be very affordable. For instance, West Ham have set the opening price of their Fan Tokens at £1 per Token, and we will announce the price of other Fan Tokens in due course. The price of the Fan Token will be exchanged from fiat (traditional currencies) to $CHZ at the time of purchase.
The Socios.com app in itself is free, and with most clubs, season ticket-holders and members will be given the chance to redeem a Fan Token for free. Thousands of Fan Tokens will also be given away to fans for free through Socios.com’s in-app geo-location, augmented reality feature called ‘Token Hunt’. So even if you don’t pay for a token, you will still be able to use the app, vote and earn rewards.
One Fan Token is worth one right to vote for as long as you own that Token – you don’t spend your Fan Tokens every time you vote and it’s not an annual cost like membership or a season ticket. If you only want one Fan Token (and you haven’t managed to pick one up for free), the cost of one Fan Token is all you ever need to spend to use the app, always have a vote and earn rewards in perpetuity. Fan Tokens are fungible, meaning that like other cryptocurrencies, they can be exchanged for other ‘goods’, such as VIP experiences, exclusive merchandise, tickets etc.
Voting: Why Not Use Social Media Or Run Polls On Club Websites For Free?
Running polls on social media is unreliable and you cannot trust the integrity of the vote. People can create multiple fake profiles to vote multiple times, and thus influence the outcome. Take for example Lazio’s player of the season poll, which has been hijacked for two years running by Liverpool fans to make Lucas Leiva the winner. This year, he won with 71% of the vote, when he didn’t even score a goal all season. You can’t do this on the blockchain. Blockchain ensures the integrity of your vote better than any other technology. By this we mean that once you have voted, your vote cannot be changed or tampered with, and the clubs have to respect the outcome.
Whatever system or technology the club uses to gauge fan opinion, be it blockchain or something else, it will cost money to both build and maintain. The Clubs have entrusted Socios.com to run those polls and surveys on their behalf, leveraging our permissioned blockchain to safely and securely ensure the integrity of the vote, and to ensure those voting have the right to vote.
Voting: Can Fans Buy Large Quantities of Fan Tokens To Try To Control The Vote?
No. Each Club will cap the amount of Fan Tokens (and therefore voting rights) that one single fan can hold to ensure that polls cannot be ‘controlled’. The more a user interacts with the app, the more reward points he or she earns (which can then be redeemed for experiences or merchandise etc). It’s loyalty that is rewarded rather than the number of Fan Tokens owned.
Age: Is there an age restriction?
We are not required to impose an age limit on the app. Users can hunt for the free Tokens but if a user wishes to buy Fan Tokens, they need to go through the standard user verification process. We do not accept Apple in-app payments for example, though Fan Tokens can be gifted from one person to another with pre-paid vouchers. Those under 18 will not be permitted to trade their Fan Tokens (ie can’t sell or cash out).
