How Paris Saint-Germain used cryptocurrency to secure Lionel Messi signing

Reports have emerged over how Paris Saint-Germain secured the signing of Lionel Messi this summer with the inclusion of cryptocurrency assets.

According to the Daily Mail, French giants included ‘fan tokens’ to prop up eye-watering £1m-a-week contract of football’s biggest star.

The sporting world is still reeling from Messi’s switching of allegiance from Barcelona to the French capital, after it was confirmed that he could no longer be re-registered at the Nou Camp.

Eyebrows were raised when PSG immediately became frontrunners for the superstar, despite already boasting the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on their books, along with summer signings Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi.

And, despite Messi’s eye-watering £1million-per-week two-year deal which sees him remain as the world’s highest paid footballer, PSG struck a deal with the player and his representative to see a portion of his payment package made up of ‘$PSG fan tokens.’

Back in September 2018 PSG announced an innovative partnership with blockchain company socios.com, kick-starting a process whereby supporters of the club could begin to purchase $PSG fan tokens, powering by $Chiliz cryptocurrency.

The company became the ‘official branded cryptocurrency partner’ of PSG, and now a breakthrough moment has arrived with the virtual currency playing a defining role in what is arguably the football deal of the century.