Oh, Switzerland-the land of cuckoo clocks, chocolates, and now, watchdogs with a penchant for chasing digital ghosts. The Gambling Supervisory Authority (GESPA) has officially taken a swipe at FIFA’s shiny new NFT platform, FIFA Collect, accusing it of dabbling in illegal, unlicensed gambling. 🎲💸
On a day typically reserved for fondue and precise watches, GESPA dropped their formal complaint, claiming that FIFA’s “competitions”-which apparently consist of riddles, challenges, and airdrops-are essentially gambling disguised as digital collectibles. Because nothing says “harmless fun” like gambling with a sprinkle of blockchain, right? 🤔
“Participation in the competitions is only possible in exchange for a monetary stake, with monetary benefits to be won. Whether participants win a prize depends on random draws or similar procedures.”
From the lofty heights of Swiss law, these NFT “offers” are a tangled mess-part lottery, part sports betting-and Switzerland, being Switzerland, is not amused. Their exclusive club of regulated sports betting providers includes only Sporttip and Jouez Sport. Sorry, FIFA. Better luck next goal! ⚽
CryptoMoon, ever curious and slightly nosy, reached out to FIFA and its trusty sidekick, Modex, which powers the platform. Crickets. No response. Maybe they’re busy arguing whether NFTs are just digital soccer hallucinations or if they’re actually gambling? 🦗
The entire kerfuffle spotlights how these shiny new toys-NFTs and Web3-still find themselves tangled in legal gray zones, trying to dance the cha-cha with regulations that are, shall we say, a bit old-fashioned. A real sci-fi courtroom drama unfolding, with more questions than answers. 🕵️♂️
GESPA Slaps FIFA Collect with a Probe
Back in October, GESPA’s curiosity piqued, and they started poking around FIFA Collect-specifically, those “Right to Buy” NFTs giving users ticket reservation rights for the 2026 World Cup. Because nothing says “fun” like digital tickets that might end up costing a fortune on the black market. 💰
These NFTs offer holders-who get the “right,” but not the obligation-to buy tickets at face value, thus dodging secondary market price gouging, or at least trying to. Because of course, in the world of big sports events, scalpers are just waiting for their moment, like sharks circling chum. 🦈
Some of the hottest World Cup reservation NFTs – Argentina, Spain, France, England, Brazil-sold like hotcakes, each at the hefty price of $999, and yes, they’re all gone. FIFA Collect launched in 2022 on the Algorand blockchain, showing that even FIFA is dipping its toes into crypto’s bubbling pool.
Meanwhile, whispers of a new FIFA blockchain-an exclusive blockchain universe of their own-are swirling. They plan to migrate to their very own subnet on Avalanche. Because why not just take everything in-house and throw a digital party no one understands? 🎉
Read More
- ETH PREDICTION. ETH cryptocurrency
- Gold Rate Forecast
- Ethereum Devs Unveil Kohaku: The Ultimate Privacy and Security Solution for Wallets!
- The Relentless Ascent of Broadcom Stock: Why It’s Not Too Late to Jump In
- ETH GBP PREDICTION. ETH cryptocurrency
- Two Stocks That Endure: A Reflection on Time and Tenacity
- BlackRock’s Blockchain Ballet: ETFs Get a Digital Makeover 🕺
- Bitcoin’s $114K Moon Shot: Will It Bounce or Flop? 🚀💸
- Quantum Computing: The High-Stakes Gamble or the Next Big Play?
- Sailing the Seas of Risk: Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean
2025-10-17 21:09