A leading Brazilian football team has used USDC to buy an Argentinian player. The transaction becomes the first transfer in football history to be paid in Crypto. The Club Atlético Banfield player, Giuliano Galoppo, cost Sao Paulo approximately $8 million.
The 23 year old is a midfielder. Following the transfer, he is set to be one of the highest valued players in the region.
The Crypto transaction was facilitated by Bitso, a leading Crypto trading platform in South America. The platform enables users to buy, hold, sell, and pay for services in digital assets. It currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), USD Coin (USDC), and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Argentinians are Embracing Crypto
Banfield accepted the Crypto payment following damaging inflation and devaluation of the local currency. The Argentinian Peso has devalued to an all-time low of $1 USD /130 Argentinian Pesos. The dire situation is further aggravated by parallel exchange rates where the Central Bank and local businesses have different quotations.
Due to the deteriorating financial situation, widespread unemployment, inflation, and political turmoil have occurred. The events culminated with the Minister of Economy – Martin Guzman’s resignation last month.
To cushion their wealth and money, Argentinians embrace Crypto. The stability of these digital assets hedges against inflationary pressures.
Stablecoins Guarantee Stability
The USDC is issued by Circle, an American financial services and payment company. It’s pegged 1:1 to the dollar and backed by assets with intrinsic value, such as financial instruments and the USD.
Digital cash is ideal for cross-border payments such as the Argentina-Brazil deal. It is not subject to restrictions, sanctions, rules, and regulations that govern financial transactions because the transactions are P2P based within the Circle ecosystem.
Various platforms support USDC payments, such as Stripe. Twitter has adopted it for paying influencers in USDC, which can be adopted in many other financial payment solutions that accept Crypto and Debit card payments.
Football Clubs are Turning to Crypto
Football clubs worldwide are increasingly accepting Crypto payments as fans embrace Crypto. Sao Paulo partnered with Bitso enabling fans to purchase tickets with digital assets. The firm is also the financial sponsor of the tier one Brazilian football club for the next three years.
In Europe, OKX- a Crypto firm- sponsors Manchester City Football Club, and its brand logo is featured on the training kit. Unconfirmed reports show that the deal is worth £20 million.
Chelsea FC and WhaleFin also signed a £20 million sponsorship deal where the Crypto platform will be featured on the club’s shirt sleeve.
With the international nature of football and the need for visibility, Crypto firms are turning to the sport to gain new users. The Galoppo transfer is set to be the first of the many deals to come.