Sorare Lets People Swap Fantasy Sports NFTs For Cash
CRYPTO — Sorare’s game takes the collectibility of trading cards with the strategy of traditional fantasy sports and mashes them together. Users collect, trade, and construct rosters out of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) representing actual athletes, with teams scoring points based on the actual performances of those athletes.
The market determines the price of these cards during an auction, which is held in a variety of rarities. In the past, you needed a crypto wallet and the Ethereum network (ETH) to buy gift cards and redeem them for cash. According to Sorare, this procedure was a major roadblock to widespread use of both their platform and Web 3.0 more generally.
In order to facilitate the buying and selling of cards, it has teamed up with Mangopay to provide a cash wallet that lets users link their bank accounts and store card details to make deposits and withdrawals. The wallet supports Ether cryptocurrency transactions on the Ethereum network in addition to US dollars, Euros, and British pounds if the user so chooses. All users will have access to the Sorare wallet beginning in the month of August. According to Sorare CEO Nicolas Julia, “Sorare is built using blockchain technology because we believe it can deliver unique benefits to sports fans and fantasy gamers in the form of proven authenticity, scarcity, and portability.”
To fully realize their promise, however, emerging technologies must be made available to the broadest possible audience. We are excited to now allow Managers to construct their teams and collections using real-world (or fiat) currency with the launch of Cash Wallet, a major step toward our aim of making Sorare as simple and user-friendly as possible for all sports enthusiasts. With agreements with LaLiga, Bundesliga, and Serie A, as well as the NBA, MLB, and MLS, Sorare hosts four of Europe’s ‘big five’ soccer leagues.
Blockchain is an important part of Web 3.0, but for Sorare it is more of a means to a goal than a unique selling proposition. Press conferences and other public announcements rarely mention crypto and NFT technologies. Instead of marketing itself as a Web 3.0 service, it promotes its games as a fantastical adventure. By doing away with the necessity for a crypto wallet, Sorare makes it so that consumers can engage in their version of fantasy sports without having to directly connect with or comprehend the ideas of Web 3.0.
