Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are two of the hottest concepts in the crypto sector, and each is altering the way projects and companies interact with the public on a wide scale. 

One project that is looking to apply these concepts into a framework for sports fan engagement is Chiliz, a blockchain platform created by the Socios fan engagement platform. The project is designed to allow fans to purchase branded Fan Tokens that let them influence their teams through the popular vote.

According to the project website, all Fan Tokens are minted on the Chiliz blockchain with on-platform voting being executed through a series of smart contracts.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that over the past month, the price of Chiliz (CHZ) has increased 760%, going from $0.022 on Feb. 8 to a new all-time high of $0.189 on March 8. CHZ trading volume also hit a 24-hour record at $1.92 billion.

CHZ/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The platform currently offers Fan Tokens for some of the most popular sports teams in the world, including FC Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma, Galatasaray and Atletico de Madrid.

Token launch sparked a strong rally

Momentum for Chiliz began to gather steam at the end of 2020 when the platform partnered with Binance to launch the ACM Fan Token for AC Milan on Feb. 24. The launch generated $6 million in revenue for the CHZ ecosystem.

ACM is part of a network of 23 major sporting and esports organizations that also have plans to work with Chiliz on launching Fan Tokens.

CHZ price received an added boost on March 2 when CEO Alexandre Dreyfus announced that the project would allocate $50 million to expand operations to the United States, and there are already plans to start working with local leagues and sports franchises.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for CHZ on March 1, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. CHZ price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ score hit a high of 66 on March 1, less than 5 hours before the price of CHZ began to break out above $0.06. Following the price rise and consolidation above $0.11, the VORTECS™ score climbed to 69 on March 6, two days before the price surged to a new all-time high.

Currently, Chiliz is in ongoing talks with Formula One, and if the team is able to onboard popular U.S. sporting teams, the project could be well positioned to see further growth as blockchain technology and NFTs become more ingrained into the sports industry.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.