The London Football Exchange (LFE) is set to launch its own cryptocurrency.
The idea is to let football (a.k.a., soccer in the US) fanatics take part in various club and fan experiences at a reduced cost, including match-day tickets, tours and player meet-and-greets, along with specific merchandise and third-party partner offers – while clubs can benefit from financing opportunities. It will be enabled by LFE Points, a blockchain-based loyalty, rewards and offers platform.
“Our vision is to allow football clubs to take advantage of the token funding economy for their financing needs by providing them with a tokenized financing infrastructure, which involves token design and issuance services,” said Charles Pittar, corporate CEO of LFE.
Discussions are already under way with over 50 clubs, including Premier League Clubs in the UK and prominent teams throughout Europe, the US and Australia, LFE said.
“The LFE aims to become a one-stop shop for clubs of all sizes to raise capital via equity sales and also offer LFE contributors a wealth of fan experiences and social interaction,” said Scott Smith, football CEO of LFE. “Clubs will be encouraged to offer some equity through the LFE and required to offer a minimum number of unique experiences or special offers so that the real fans can take part in their favorite clubs.”
LFE is being advised on the launch by leading law firm CMS. Sam Robinson, a partner at CMS, added, “It is very exciting to advise LFE on establishing a business that is aiming to have an impact on the entire football industry using blockchain technology. As a firm, CMS has a particular focus on fintech, and we are delighted to be able to support businesses like LFE that are at the cutting edge of regulation and technology.”
For the clubs, the LFE tokens aim to also help them eliminate the antiquated ticketing technology from legacy operators, which means they pay fees ranging from 5% to 8% in commission based on the notional value of tickets sold.
As part of its initial token offering, LFE will generate a total of 4 billion tokens, with 2.4 billion tokens made available for general sale. The tokens will be priced at 20 cents, which equates to a fundraising goal of approximately $350 million. The pre-sales run from now to February 11, with the public sale taking place directly afterwards, from February 12 to May 20.
The LFE platform will use the Ripple and Stellar networks to support token issuance, trades, and transfers, with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple all accepted as part of the token sale. Bank transfers of British pounds, euros, US dollars, Australian dollars and Swiss francs will also be accepted.