SBI becomes chain validator of Chiliz’s sports Web3 ecosystem in Japan
“We’re proud to collaborate with SBI Digital Asset Holdings to make the Chiliz Chain the premier blockchain for sports and entertainment within Japan and expand our Fan Token offering through registered and authorized platforms.”
Chiliz, the blockchain provider for sports and entertainment, has plans to establish a Joint Venture (JV) with SBI’s digital asset arm in Japan.
Through the upcoming partnership, sports fans in Japan will gain access to tokens from top football clubs including Arsenal, AC Milan, Manchester City, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain.
These tokens provide unique engagement opportunities for sporting fans to participate in fan-focused decisions, access exclusive rewards, and connect with fellow supporters in the global community.
Chiliz’s Socios.com has over 2 million users
The collaboration revolves around Chiliz’s subsidiary Socios.com, the world’s largest Web3 wallet and fan engagement platform with more than two million users, over 70 Fan Tokens launched so far for global sports organization partners, and more than 250,000 unique daily engagements.
Chiliz will integrate the JV entity into its global operations and network to allow Japanese fans to start participating in the global fan communities, with the support of the SBI group, which has a network of over 50 million clients across all its services.
SBI DAH is also expected to join as a node operator of the Chiliz Chain to play an important role in the governance of the Chiliz Web3 ecosystem.
“We prioritize the utility and underlying value”
Fernando Luis Vázquez Cao, CEO of SBI DAH, said: “We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Chiliz as partners who share our perspectives on blockchain technology: at SBI DAH, we prioritize the utility and underlying value which technology brings to communities. Technology is an enabler in the new world, and we are pleased to bring new experiences to the Japanese audience by working with strong players like Chiliz. The partnership between SBI DAH and Chiliz will bring together the best-in-class capabilities of both traditional finance and Web3, leveraging fintech innovations to transform the sports and entertainment experiences for communities.”
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz, added: “We’re proud to collaborate with SBI Digital Asset Holdings to make the Chiliz Chain the premier blockchain for sports and entertainment within Japan and expand our Fan Token offering through registered and authorized platforms. Japan has one of the most advanced and exciting developer communities in the world and we are proud to be working with SBI to help provide the Web3 infrastructure and tools for these developers to lead the next generation of experiences for sports entertainment brands. Together with the team at SBI DAH, we look forward to curating new experiences for Japanese fans and clubs worldwide.”
SBI Digital Asset Holdings and Zodia Custody launched JV
Joint Ventures are a popular solution for partnerships in Japan. Last year, SBI Digital Asset Holdings launched a JV with Standard Chartered’s crypto asset subsidiary Zodia Custody to act as a Japan-based crypto assets custodian, targeting institutional clients.
The joint venture, owned 51% by SBI DAH and 49% by Zodia Custody, will address a bottleneck that has previously held back interested institutions from participating in this space even though this is one of the most sophisticated crypto asset regulatory jurisdictions.
The deal was subject to anti-trust and foreign direct investment clearances, and licences from the Japanese regulator, the Financial Services Agency.
