Bitcoin Under Pressure

Polygon (MATIC) Under Consideration for IPL Fan Tokens

Polygon, one of the Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum which is fast emerging from the shadows of Ethereum due to the high speed and low gas fees that it has been able to bring in, is likely to be used for fan tokens of the Indian Premier League.

This is a shot in the arm for the crypto industry in India which has been suffering due to the indecision from the government on whether crypto would be legalized or not. Using blockchain and crypto tokens for fan engagement has been an oft-repeated topic and there have been few companies like Socios that have gone ahead with the implementation of fan tokens and have also signed up with many soccer clubs in the European region for the same. This is the first talk of fan tokens for a league in India and to think that it would soon be possible on such a major league like IPL, which has millions of followers, would indeed go a long way in taking the crypto industry to the mainstream.

The fact that the tie-up is with Polygon, which is also an Indian company, should be another boost to the crypto ecosystem in India though it remains to be seen what shape and form this engagement will take and whether such fan tokens can be exchanged with another crypto along the way. These would be key questions that would also depend on what kind of regulation the Indian government plans to bring in for the crypto sector. There has been talking of an outright ban but if that happens, it is unlikely that such tokens would get much traction in the long run as the mainstream users would then back off rather than take the risk of owning fan tokens which might ultimately turn out to be useless.

There have not been any concrete indications as yet from the IPL or the Polygon team regarding this partnership though Polygon did indicate that they would be making some important announcements around the sporting industry in India in the coming weeks. India is likely to turn out to be an important market for crypto with the shutdown of the industry in China but it needs the crypto ecosystem there to pick up the gauntlet and run for it to grow and diversify. Maybe this partnership is the push that it was waiting for.