As soon as rumours started buzzing that football star Lionel Messi would transfer from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in August, Miguel Schweizer decided to buy the French club’s fan token, $PSG, on a hunch that prices would soar. They did – but he didn’t hold the tokens for long.
He sold them a few days later, betting the rally would be short-lived. His trade proved correct: prices were down 34 per cent a week later, and by 73 per cent four months after they were issued.
“I would never keep them in my investment portfolio for the long term,” said Mr Schweizer, 29, chief executive of Decrypto, a Buenos Aires-based exchange and wallet. “They’re trade opportunities.”
For many, football club tokens have proved a disappointment, with prices losing steam within days.
It is three years since fan tokens started trading in the main cryptocurrency exchanges, promising an alternative for clubs to gain cash and for fans to be closer to their favourite teams. Both have yet to live up to expectation.
Clubs that have issued tokens include Manchester City, FC Barcelona and AC Milan.
FC Arsenal has raised $5.5 million through fan tokens, though most transactions are closer to $2m. That’s a fraction of these clubs’ expenses.
Analysts say demand for fan tokens quickly goes from euphoria to indifference. Their main criticism is that the tokens have few tangible benefits for their owners.
The Juventus token allows fans to use the tokens to buy VIP tickets, while the PSG token was used to allow holders to vote on the design for the new team bus and club slogan.
“The problem with current fan tokens is the clubs do not actively promote them or the utility the tokens have,” said Oliver Bell, chief executive and co-founder of XCAD Network, a company that makes tokens for content creators.
“The people that are buying them are not necessarily fans of the clubs at all; the only buyers are crypto enthusiasts.”
Meanwhile, the market remains small. The market cap of the sports fan tokens is as high as $491m and its daily traded volume is $241m.
The biggest 10 fan tokens have an average daily volume of $13m, only 28 per cent of the daily volume traded, on average, for the 364 coins listed on Binance, according to data from CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.
The world’s largest fan token by market capitalisation, Manchester City, has a market cap of $56m and the daily traded volume is under $15m, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. Its price is half of what it was issued for.
Proponents of fan tokens say it’s too early to assess their success. These coins are not intended to be investment assets, but rather to provide a service, said Alexandre Dreyfus, founder and chief executive of Socios.com, a company that partners with clubs to develop the tokens.
Socios.com has 57 fan token partners, including football teams and Formula 1, up from 20 a year ago. Mr Dreyfus says this indicates growing interest.
“We’re seeing an uptick in interest from clubs in issuing fan tokens,” he said. “Fans will be able to enjoy exclusive games and content and score points that they can redeem for official signed products, free tickets or VIP experiences.”
To promote their use, on April 7, Binance began offering Lazio fan token-holders the opportunity to stake, a process that allows owners to earn passive income on the coins without having to sell them.
The tokens are used to validate transactions on blockchain, with the rewards and fees divided among the participants and the exchange.
Binance offered holders 8 per cent of annualised returns when they kept the Lazio tokens locked for 30 days, or 15 per cent if they kept them for 90 days.
Some say they still see a good investment opportunity, even amid low volumes that reflect the wider mood on cryptocurrency volatility. They point to certain tokens, such as PSG’s or Barca’s, which have attracted spikes of interest when there’s big news.
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Specs
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The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Race card
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.45pm: Handicap Dh95,000 1,200m.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,400m.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m.
The National selections:
1.45pm: Galaxy Road – So Hi Speed
2.15pm: Majestic Thunder – Daltrey
2.45pm: Call To War – Taamol
3.15pm: Eqtiraan - Bochart
3.45pm: Kidd Malibu – Initial
4.15pm: Arroway – Arch Gold
4.35pm: Compliance - Muqaatil
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
The specs
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Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
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Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
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Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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MATCH INFO
Burnley 0
Man City 3
Raheem Sterling 35', 49'
Ferran Torres 65'
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
