3 days ago
Switzerland's gambling regulator is looking into whether "right-to-buy" tokens sold by planetary shot organizing assemblage FIFA up of the 2026 World Cup tourney comply with rules that govern gambling, Bloomberg reported. No wrongdoing has been alleged.
Gespa is assessing whether the tokens, which tin beryllium bought, sold and traded connected FIFA’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, are gambling-like oregon correspond conditional acquisition rights. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
The authorization has not alleged wrongdoing nor had it received immoderate reports of wrongdoing, and is gathering facts to find whether immoderate enactment is warranted, manager Manuel Richard told Bloomberg connected Monday.
According to FIFA’s website, RTB tokens are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that reserve a dedicated acquisition model for a circumstantial match. They aren’t tickets, but they let holders to bargain tickets astatine look worth if conditions are met.
FIFA archetypal rolled retired “Right-to-Buy” (RTB) tokens for the World Cup Final successful 2024, announcing 1,000 RTB opportunities for fans. Team-linked RTBs activate lone if the chosen squad qualifies, and they tin beryllium sold connected the secondary marketplace via FIFA’s autochthonal marketplace powered by its Web3 partner, Modex.
FIFA “Right to Final” tickets. Source: FIFA CollectFor the 2026 World Cup hosted by the US, Canada,and Mexico, “Right to Final” tokens scope from $299 to $999, depending connected the team. Many tokens are already sold out, with prices determined by likelihood — agelong shots are cheaper, portion favorites specified arsenic Argentina, Brazil and England are astatine the higher end.
FIFA said RTBs were created to code utmost demand for tickets astatine circumstantial matches and tournaments. At the 2022 World Cup successful Qatar, for example, determination were 3.4 cardinal tickets disposable for astir 23 cardinal requests, according to FIFA.
Cointelegraph reached retired to FIFA for comment, but had not received a effect astatine clip of publication.
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FIFA’s stake connected NFT technology
NFTs are unsocial blockchain tokens that verify ownership and authenticity of a circumstantial asset. While the wider NFT roar peaked successful 2021–22, FIFA has continued utilizing NFT exertion for integer collectibles, ticket-access rights, and gaming.
Soccer’s satellite governing federation archetypal began experimenting with Web3 and NFTs backmost successful 2022, erstwhile it announced plans to motorboat its autochthonal platform, FIFA Collect, connected the Algorand blockchain.
In Dec. 2023, earlier the Club World Cup successful Saudi Arabia, FIFA and Modex launched 1,000 NFTs — 100 offering a accidental to triumph tickets to the 2026 World Cup finals and 900 further collectibles minted connected Polygon.
FIFA besides moved into Web3 gaming successful 2024 with FIFA Rivals, built with Web3 gaming workplace Mythical Games. The free-to-play mobile rubric that launched successful June 2025 lets players tally clubs, compete, and commercialized NFT subordinate cards connected the Mythos blockchain.
FIFA “RTB” token for Mexico City match. Source: FIFA CollectIn May, FIFA decided to permission Algorand and migrate its NFT marketplace and postulation to Avalanche, which it would usage to powerfulness its ain layer-1 blockchain.
Francesco Abbate, CEO of Modex and FIFA Collect, said AvaCloud’s EVM-compatible stack makes connecting FIFA Collect with mainstream wallets and DApps easier.
With an estimated fan basal of implicit 5 cardinal globally, Avalanche Subnets volition fto FIFA tally a dedicated, tunable concatenation that tin beryllium adjusted independently of the Avalanche web to grip event-driven surges, specified arsenic the World Cup.
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