What is Chiliz (CHZ)? How does It Work? Complete Beginner’s Guide[2024]

Chiliz is a cryptocurrency that allows sports fans to have unique experiences with their favorite teams. 

Inspired by the socios of Spanish soccer teams, where an annual subscription grants fans access to early ticket and club voting rights, Chiliz leverages blockchain technology to enable a new kind of direct engagement between fans and their favorite sports teams.

Fans are able to purchase the Fan Tokens of their favorite teams using the CHZ token, the native cryptocurrency of the Chiliz experience. Fan Tokens can be bought for CHZ through socios.com, the crowd management platform that powers the Chiliz experience. 

Each team that partners with Chiliz can customize the real world experiences their Fan Tokens provide to holders. Fan Tokens can also grant holders influence over decisions presented by the team, such as new uniform designs, celebration songs, stadium names and, in some instances, decisions over the starting lineups.

Prior to Chiliz, fans could only engage with their favorite teams by watching games or purchasing merchandise. Chiliz and its associated Fan Tokens give sport fanatics an active presence within the operations of their favorite teams and a unique influence over its decision making process. 

Meanwhile, Chiliz allows sports franchises to monetize their fan base in new ways while providing unique experiences to their most loyal supporters.

Who Created The Chiliz Network?

Chiliz was founded in 2012 by Alexander Dreyfus, its acting CEO. The company falls under the Mediarex Group, an international sports and entertainment organization, and holds esteemed partners including Sam Li, former Vice President of the NBA, Nicolas Maurer, CEO of esports team Vitality, and Dr. DisRespect, one of the world’s largest video game streamers.

In 2018, the blockchain-based Socios platform was launched, alongside the CHZ token. Following funding of $66 million by Private Placement in 2019, the platform launched its website and app. Today, the company also has offices in France, Turkey, Spain, South Korea, and Brazil.

How Does Chiliz Work?

Chiliz’s success in championing the mainstream adoption of its fan engagement and monetization platform is because of its customer-oriented products and services, which are easy to use even by new cryptocurrency users. Its products (Socios and Chiliz exchange) have user-friendly interfaces and responsive customer support to guide you through. Besides, they haven’t experienced any security hacks yet; thus, they can be considered safe for use. 

Chiliz’s blockchain application is also important in ensuring that cryptocurrencies in its ecosystem – CHZ tokens and fan tokens – are easily traceable, confirmable, and immutable.    

In October 2018, Chiliz issued a fixed supply of approximately 8.8 billion CHZ tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and distributed some to interested parties. The company didn’t conduct any public sale other than what they sold through cryptocurrency exchanges. Although CHZ began as an ERC-20 token, it was redesigned to accommodate the BEP-2 token standard because of Binance’s role in issuing new fan tokens as part of its strategic partnership with Chiliz.   

Contrary, fan tokens are issued on the Socios side-chain, which leverages a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) mechanism to achieve consensus. Unlike Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanisms, PoA relies on pre-approved authority nodes to issue and confirm transactions.

Since the nodes play a crucial role in safeguarding the Chiliz blockchain, the entities and persons behind them are publicly revealed to increase trust. The Chiliz team operates most of the nodes, but the European retail giant Rakuten recently started operating authority nodes on the Chiliz network. As the company continues to the mainstream, it hopes to strike more strategic partnerships to safeguard its network further. 

PoA blockchains, like Chiliz, are not as decentralized as other blockchains, such as PoW chains. Nonetheless, PoA blockchains are highly scalable, secure, and capable of handling more transactions per second. This makes them ideal for powering collaborative social engagement platforms like Socios. 

Besides, all activities of Socios, such as trading and voting outcomes, are securely stored on the Chiliz side-chain instead of the Ethereum blockchain. This enables Chiliz to regulate gas fees, ensuring fast and low-cost transactions. 

The side-chain also runs smart contracts that implement the decisions reached from Socios polls and surveys. Therefore, the Socios app is an oracle linking the Chiliz side-chain with the Ethereum blockchain. By the way, it’s the only bridge facilitating the exchange of CHZ and fan tokens.

Proof of Authority (PoA)

Fan Tokens are created and verified on the Socios sidechain via a Proof of Authority consensus algorithm. 
 

Proof of Authority (PoA) operates differently than other consensus algorithms such as Proof of Work or Proof of Stake, instead relying on a smaller number of approved verifiers rather than a distributed network of anonymous nodes to uphold the truthfulness of the network. 
 

While PoA is considered to be a less decentralized consensus method, it is often used by blockchain networks seeking to be more scalable and efficient. Energy Web Token (EWT) and VeChain (VET) are examples of other platforms that use the Proof of Authority consensus mechanism.

Oracles

Chiliz has announced a partnership with the decentralized oracle network Chainlink, a service that provides real-world data to smart contracts. Through this partnership, Chiliz aims to create unique non-fungible tokens (NFT) aimed at commemorating special events such as player milestones or championship wins in near real time. 

What is Socios?

Socios can be described as the first consumer-facing product of Chiliz. It’s a scalable, mainstream app that lets fans acquire tokenized voting rights in their favorite clubs. The app allows fans to engage with their teams and provides access to unique rewards, including not-to-be-missed experiences, prediction games, and match-day challenges.  

Socios is powered by the Chiliz side-chain and allows interested teams to issue fan tokens. These tokens are exclusive blockchain assets with the imprint of the issuing team they are associated with. As such, they give holders the ballot rights to participate in decision-making, opinion polls, and surveys regarding the management of teams. 

Through Socios, fans can directly participate in the decision-making processes of their favorite teams. For example, Arsenal Football Club fans can vote on merchandise designs, in-game banners, naming playgrounds, or selecting a goal celebration song through the AFC fan token while receiving rewards and unique experiences. The platform ensures the club honors the fans’ voting outcomes through smart contracts. 

In summary, these are the six key features of Socios:

Crypto entry point: You can use your credit card to purchase CHZ.

• Trading section: After buying the CHZ token, you can use it to purchase your favorite team’s fan token. Moreover, you can exchange one fan token with another or convert it back to CHZ.
• Polls section: After acquiring a fan token, you can influence the decisions of the related team.
• Rewards section: As a fan token holder, you can acquire club merchandise at discounted prices and other perks.
• Pokémon Go-like feature: This is a virtual reality feature for chasing and acquiring CHZ tokens for free.
• Locker room feature: This tool allows teams to monitor the demand for their potential fan tokens.

The Chiliz Ecosystem Tokens

Apart from the CHZ tokens that fuel the Socios platform, Chiliz offers three more tokens that play various roles:

Fan Tokens

The Chiliz fan tokens facilitate voting and offer perks to clubs. Some popular football clubs with millions of followers have already issued fan tokens. Examples of these tokens include the AFC token for Arsenal Football Club, ATM token for Atletico de Madrid, BAR token for Barcelona Football Club, CITY token for Manchester City, PSG token for Paris Saint Germain, and more.  

Moreover, Chiliz has a Fan Token Offering (FTO) launchpad that enables clubs to issue and distribute fan tokens. There is also a fan token burning feature that burns tokens to create scarcity for performing teams, thus, boosting their values. 

Locker Tokens

If a team wants to join Chiliz, it sends an application request. Once Chiliz approves the request, the team creates a “locker” where investors can hold their CHZ tokens for four months and exchange them for locker tokens. 

After a team successfully launches its fan token, Chiliz swaps the locker tokens for fan tokens (plus 10% CHZ cashback), which are mostly worth more than the CHZ token. If the fan token fails to launch, the platform refunds your CHZ tokens. 

Chiliz ERC-1155 NFTs

In February 2020, Chiliz announced a collaboration with leading blockchain technology developer Enjin to develop branded digital collectibles for clubs. Chiliz leverages the Enjin tools to mint Ethereum-based non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles for partners. 

ERC-1155 is a multi-token standard for creating fungible and non-fungible tokens under one protocol invented by Enjin. The idea behind it is to create a token that performs similar functions as an ERC-20 and ERC-721, and even both concurrently. And better still, enhancing the functionalities of both standards, making them more effective, and fixing fundamental implementation issues of the two standards. You can buy Chiliz collectibles on the Enjin Marketplace using ENJ or CHZ. 

Recently, Chiliz also started collaborating with Chainlink to mint NFTs in real-time. This helps them respond to live sporting activities (such as a champion league winning goal) and create limited edition NFTs to honor the goal.     

Chiliz and Sports

Multiple iterations of Chiliz’s product concept were conceived as early as 2016. Actual work, including product and team development, started in early 2018. The company managed to fundraise $66 million through a private sale and used most of the funds to build Socios. 

Juventus was the first team to issue fan tokens (JUV), conduct an FTO, and allow its fans to vote on the blockchain. Since then, the platform has onboarded over 130 partners. Paris-Saint Germain, Atletico de Madrid, Galatasary, A.S Roma, and FC Barcelona were next, and many more teams have followed suit. 

Inter Milan and Valencia C.F promoted their fan tokens from the front of their jerseys in the 2021/2022 season. Even national teams like Argentina and Portugal have joined the Chiliz bandwagon. English Premier League teams like Manchester City, Everton F.C, Arsenal, Leeds United, and Aston Villa have also issued their fan tokens on Socios.   

Chiliz has not only been embraced by football teams. Formula One teams, major esports clubs, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and more have joined Chiliz. After its successful 2021 partnerships with various teams from the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA), Chiliz seems well positioned for the 2022 growth of its fan engagement application. 

Chiliz’s Scoville Blockchain Development

In April 2022, Chiliz launched Scoville testnet, a blockchain that will speed up the creation of fan tokens. Chiliz Chain 2.0 (CC2) will enable clubs and brands to mint NFTs, issue fan tokens, and other DeFi products, like Play2Earn games, Play2Win, and merchandised certifications.

CC2 will be fueled by the CHZ token, further increasing its utility. Currently, CHZ mainly acts as a medium of exchange that enables entertainment and sports fans to buy fan tokens of their favorite entertainment joints and clubs. CC2 will open the deeper value of CHZ by transitioning it from an optimal in-app currency to a network enabler of the open, multi-vertical Chiliz ecosystem.  

Previously, CHZ was used to purchase fan tokens on Socios. Now, the token will be applicable in the new and multi-vertical Chiliz ecosystem. The launch of the Scoville testnet is the most significant milestone since Chiliz revolutionized fan engagement in the entertainment and sports industry by introducing fan tokens and establishing the Socios platform in 2019. 

CHZ develops CC2 in partnership with Ankr, a leading developer of blockchain technology. Besides, CC2 is Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible and offers transaction costs of almost 200 cheaper than Ethereum. It will leverage a Proof-of-Stake Authority (PoSA), incentivizing CHZ investors to stake their holdings. 

Organizations with approval may comprise those that are already Socios’ official partners. Moreover, they will be allowed to validate the network, ensuring its security and benefit from its growth. CC2 will offer an open ecosystem to allow vetted third-party developers to build along with Socios. This will create externalized applications for fan tokens and offer new experiences across new use cases, which stretch beyond fan tokens. 

What Makes CHZ Unique?

The cryptocurrency operates on top of the BNB Chain (BNB) as well as the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain network. Chiliz is the company behind the CHZ cryptocurrency, which follows the token standard based on the network in which it has been issued. For example, Ethereum is based on the ERC-20 token standard.

On the BNB Chain, it is based on the BEP-20 token standard. However, the Socios website has the responsibility of essentially enabling the functionality behind the ecosystem, in which fans get the ability to buy branded non-fungible tokens (NFTs), after which they can connect to their favorite teams as well as entertainers. CHZ is a currency that gives fans the opportunity to essentially buy branded NFTs directly on top of the platform.

Socios has its own ecosystem that has multiple fan tokens, where the website and mobile application enable users to buy NFTs or earn them in specific competitions or contests. Additionally, these NFTs can then be traded across users on the platform. Through exchanging the tokens within the platform directly or through specific partners, fans can also gain access to team-branded merchandise and additional benefits. The platform aims to provide an additional level of interaction and connection between fans and their favorite teams. Ultimately, Chiliz is unique due to the fact that it enables a much higher level of interaction and communication between teams, entertainers, or anyone else that’s part of Socios and wants to connect in a better way.

What is the maximum supply of CHZ that can get created?

CHZ as a cryptocurrency cannot be mined due to the fact that all of the tokens have already been created. However, they are not all in circulation. As such, Chiliz (CHZ) does indeed have a maximum supply, and it is capped at 8,888,888,888 CHZ tokens. All fan tokens are minted using the Chiliz (CHZ) network, and all on-platform voting is executed as a series of smart contracts.

The Future of Chiliz

Chiliz has forged strategic partnerships with major sports clubs and brands globally. They have staff in almost all corners of the world and offices in Malta, Spain, France, Turkey, Brazil, and South Korea. Besides, they are planning to add to their collection of global hubs with more offices in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.  

Besides, CHZ is optimistic more teams and brands will join them soon. CHZ will fuel this seismic change in how fans engage with their clubs. Socios is the first consumer-facing revolutionary project of Chiliz thought to enhance its profile mission by bringing more visibility to fan tokens and CHZ worldwide.

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