Bulls Back to Chiliz (CHZ): Partners With Messi, Launches Testnet Tomorrow

Soccer star Lionel Messi has signed over a $20 million contract with the Socios sports fan engagement app to promote its native fan token Chiliz (CHZ). The Argentine talisman will not be paid in cryptocurrencies though. 

The price of CHZ spiked in value by over 17% immediately in reaction to the news.  Within a few hours the token reached a price of $0.3164, and following a mild correction continued to climb by a further 5% to $0.3268, according to CoinMarketCap. This is the highest price CHZ has achieved since early January.

Messi Becomes Brand Ambassador

The four-time UEFA Champions League and seven time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi signed an agreement with Socios spanning an initial 3 years to become its global brand ambassador.

This means that Messi has committed to promoting Socios.com to his 400 million followers. The Barcelona legend, who now plays for Paris Saint-Germaine, will also appear in multiple educational and promotional campaigns, starting with a debut in Socios.com brand campaign.

“Fans deserve to be recognized for their support. They deserve opportunities to influence the teams they love. I’m proud to join Socios.com’s mission to create a more connected and rewarding future for fans around the world,” said Lionel Messi.

Messi becomes the latest high-profile sports player to enter the cryptocurrency world. His current team Paris Saint-Germain has been collaborating with Socios since 2018. In total, Socios is partners with more than 130 sports teams and organizations.

The deal also signals the rising tempo of merges between the worlds of sports and digital currencies as months prior basketball star LeBron James teamed up with Crypto.com, while star NFL quarterback Tom Brady has had partnerships with the FTX exchange since last summer.

The United States National Football League also allowed its 32-affiliated teams to seek blockchain and crypto sponsorships last week. The shift in policy comes as cryptocurrencies and sports-related NFTs become more and more popular among players and fan communities alike.

Chiliz Chain 2.0 Launches  Tomorrow

In addition to the partnership deal with Lionel Messi, Chiliz is planning another wave of bullish news for investors. Alexandre Dreyfus, the CEO of Chiliz, went on record to say that the platform will launch its Chiliz Chain 2.0 testnet on March 31st, which will feature a new framework for the Web 3.0, sports, and entertainment industries.

Should the release happen successfully, it is expected to act as a catalyst for a further CHZ price surge.

CHZ has already managed to break the major resistance level of $0.2540. If the token keeps up the momentum, there is a chance it could continue to rally up to the next resistance level of approximately $0.4250.