How to succeed in the trillion-dollar sport industry with Fan Tokens & Payment Cards: Insider tips and strategies

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GM and happy May, Web3 fellows 🖖 

Welcome to Epic Web3 Newsletter — your weekly dose of actionable insights from the major Web3 experts, who help your products go TO THE MOON 🚀

🔥 Hot Panel Discussion at Epic Web3 Conference

Are you ready to witness the convergence of technology and sports, unlocking a trillion-dollar market potential? Join us at the panel discussion on the disruptive force of Web 2.5 in the sports industry. 

We’ll discuss how fan tokens are transforming fan experiences, driving unprecedented engagement, and opening up exciting revenue streams

Meet our esteemed Panelists:

🔸 Sam Li — General Partner at Ludis Capital: With a wealth of experience in venture capital and blockchain investments, Sam Li is set to unravel the groundbreaking impact of fan tokens on the sports ecosystem.

🔸 Adam Sadler — Co-Founder & COO at Intergiro: As a visionary entrepreneur, Adam is at the forefront of innovation in payment solutions. Prepare to be captivated by his insights.

🎩 Leading the Discussion: Max Vashkevich — Founder & CEO at wCard.

This is your chance to gain invaluable insights from industry pioneers. Don't miss out on this panel discussion — secure your spot at Epic Web3 Conference now!

📆 June 9, 2023 — Epic Web3 Conference

📍Palácio do Marquês de Tancos, Lisbon & Online

Only 43 Seats Available - Reserve Yours Now! 🎟️

Or join online if you cannot make it in person — there are unlimited tickets available.

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🧞‍♂️ Disrupting trillion dollar sport industry with payment cards and fan tokens. Community Insights on the role of Web3 banking in fan engagement.

— What is wCard?

Essentially, wCard is a ‘bank’ for super fans, that is not only 10 times faster, simpler and cheaper than a traditional bank, but also 10 times more rewarding for the customer. 

— Why did you decide to start wCard?

As a marketing and branding entrepreneur, I was often puzzled with how few real rewards people offered across financial products and services. Also as a superfan of Real Madrid and Formula One, I noticed there are no companies who are helping football clubs to put loyalty at the center of a fan experience. Many smaller clubs, for example, are struggling to afford players that are becoming increasingly expensive: average price of a contract grew over 100% in the past 10 years.  

So I founded wCard with an aim to close the gap between low-reward banking, and sport clubs that are struggling to align and monetise their fan engagement.

— How are you able to achieve this? 

We’re partnering with sport teams, luxury brands and trading venues, powering up their loyalty strategies with co-branded payment cards that brings not only new revenue streams, but also an uplift to their sponsorship deals. 

— How does Web3 help you in closing the gap between low-reward banking and challenges faced by sport clubs?

We’re operating on a decentralized blockchain ecosystem that reinvents old monetisation tools. A big part of that is tokenization and recent developments in the fan token sector. 

We’re partnering with Socios.com and Chilliz blockchain who did an amazing job in helping top sport clubs to launch and operate their own fan tokens. We're bringing a new level of utility to them with fiat-world fandom experiences that no other payment card can offer.

— What’s the most notable example of how decentralized blockchain can bring utility to sport fandoms?

Imagine being able to book prime seats hours before a match day, skip the line and access special F&B packages accompanied by like-minded fans, or receiving perks that could include autographed and personalized merchandise, or a chance to be an ‘honorary benchwarmer’ as players warm up before the game.

All of this and so much more is coming with the wCard monthly subscription. Over time, we’ll have the effect of empowering clubs to align their fanbase to support their capital requirements and growth strategies. 

— How exactly do Fan Tokens work? And what’s the difference with traditional cryptocurrencies?

Despite the similarity with other cryptocurrencies, Fan Tokens are a type of cryptocurrency designed to provide membership benefits to sports team fandoms. 

Fan token holders are often entitled to membership benefits such as access to exclusive content, prizes, experience, and the right to vote on club decisions. To access these benefits, fans need to ‘stake’ the tokens which means they need to keep them locked in their wallet for a certain period of time.

— What do Fan Tokens mean for Web3 and banking?

Broadly speaking, it boils down to the following points:

• Fan Tokens provide fans with the opportunity to purchase ownership in a sports team, celebrity, or artist.
  

• Ownership of Fan Tokens grants exclusive access to specific assets or experiences related to the chosen entity.
  

• Fan Token holders gain access to exclusive content and benefits not available to regular fans.
  

• Super fans have the ability to stake their tokens in support of their favorite club.
  

• By staking tokens, fans can receive additional benefits such as NFT badges for social media, increased discounts, access to VIP zones, and more.

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To learn more about Fan Tokens & Payment Cards in Web3, join our panel discussion at Epic Web3 Conference, where Max will be a host. With seasoned experts we’ll discuss some of the hottest questions, including:

— Fan tokens benefits in the Sports Industry;

— Regulatory risks and considerations; 

— The most promising fan token projects;

— And much more.

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🚀 Ethereum L2 Scaling: Learn how-to’s from successful blockchain companies

We’ve hand-picked groundbreaking videos that delve deep into the world of Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions. Get ready to embark on an enlightening journey and discover case studies from Polygon, Optimism, Composability Labs, and many more.

Important: You can watch everything for free with a 7-day trial.

In the world of Layer 2 solutions, such as Optimism, Loopring, Boba Network, Linea, Scroll, Taiko, and others, choosing (or building) the right one for your project can be challenging. Vitali Dervoed (CEO at Composability Labs) provides valuable advice on how to make this decision.

Spoiler: before embarking on your project, you have to consider the infrastructure, liquidity, VC scene, ecosystem potential, and many more.

Watch now

While Ethereum has the largest developer community (6K in 2022) and might be the best platform in terms of staked amount, it also has limitations in terms of what can be built there. Dominik Schmid (Product Manager at Polygon Miden) explores new design spaces that enable novel applications beyond the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). 

Join the video to gain a deeper understanding of how rollups can expand the possibilities of building on blockchain.

Watch now

In this video, Kelvin Fitcher (Software Engineer at Optimism) delves into the topic of rollups to shed light on how they actually work. Are rollups are a type of Layer 2 solution? Or are they rather about how an L2 is observed? Join the video to gain insights on rollups and their role within Layer 2 solutions.

Watch now

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Alright, that’s all for today! 👋 But wait…

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Sending growth your way,

Epic Web3