Messi Backs Blockchain Gaming With $21M Seed Funding

Lionel Messi’s investment company, Play Time, has backed soccer-based NFT game, Matchday, with a $21 million seed round of funding. Messi’s involvement is a sign of the growing popularity of blockchain games, which have proven resilient in challenging market conditions.

Lionel Messi has reportedly backed a soccer-based NFT game through his investment company called Play Time. The startup crypto game called Matchday will receive a huge 21 million dollars through its seed funding together with investors such as HackVC and CourtsideVentures.

Matchday is an evolving football-based NFT game where players can create their own fantasy rosters and earn rewards for playing and participating. The game will be officially licensed by the FIFA and FIFPRO players’ associations, indicating its legitimacy.

Lionel Messi is a hugely popular football icon, having played for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captained the Argentina national team. He is known to have supported and contributed to a number of crypto projects as ambassadors for the Sorare NFT game and has released his own NFT collection.

Alongside Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, a similarly iconic football legend, has also made strides in the crypto industry. In partnership with Binance, the Portuguese soccer star has released his own NFT collection, giving players the chance to own a piece of the superstar’s prime.

Other similarly high-profile individuals such as Elon Musk, Snoop Dog and Mark Cuban have also endorsed cryptocurrencies.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s involvement in the crypto industry highlights the growing trend of high-profile individuals endorsing and contributing to blockchain projects. Elon Musk has been a vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Snoop Dog, the famous rapper and entrepreneur has also dabbled in the crypto world, launching his own NFT collection.

Similarly, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has expressed interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, investing in a number of crypto-related projects.

Blockchain games on the rise

This comes after Blockchain Gaming has gained popularity even after crypto markets have shown disparity. Investors have lost more than $2 trillion since last year. For the decentralized financial markets (DeFi), more than 1.40 billion have been stolen due to maladministration and fraud.

However, blockchain gaming is proving to be the most resilient and strongest use case for crypto so far. Shows that even despite bear market conditions, the interest in the space from users has not failed or is least affected.

This is probably due to the innate characteristic of the Blockchain game which is driven more by fun, rather than speculation and profit.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, Lionel Messi’s investment in the Matchday NFT game is a testament to the growing popularity and potential of blockchain gaming.

Matchday appears to have a solid foundation for success along with the backing of strong investment firms and a solid gaming niche.

Edmond is a passionate writer for video games, GameFi and Web3. He has worked for top GameFi companies and video game/crypto news sites.