To launch chess on E-Sports platforms, World Chess has joined hands with Securitize, and Algorand will launch a hybrid IPO, which is a Security Token Offering (STO) followed by an IPO. In the STO, World Chess will sell a 5% stake as security tokens; investors can convert these tokens to equivalent shares once an IPO takes place.
As all transactions of security tokens will be embedded on a blockchain, they cannot be altered or erased. STO will follow KYC and AML norms; thus, full transparency will be maintained about the users purchasing the tokens. The STO will be vetted by financial regulatory agencies and even the exchange facilitating the sale of tokens. It will ensure that World Chess meets all the requirements for launching the STO.
World Chess’s CEO, Iyla Merenzon, has said that the funds from the STO would be used for the IPO and for promoting chess in the E-Sports arena. World Chess will also raise money from traditional financial institutions.
E-Sports and cryptocurrency both appeal to younger users in large numbers. An increasing number of E-Sports platforms are allowing cryptocurrency transactions. Thus, appealing to such users and letting them know that it shares their enthusiasm for cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies is a good move by World Chess. Selling security tokens is a way of connecting users with online Chess, thus, making them a partner in its success as an E-sport.
The popularity of E-Sports is growing in the US, and E-Sports platforms are working to integrate cryptocurrency with their games to allow micro-transactions within the game where users can both earn cryptocurrency and spend it within the game to buy skins, machines, guns, etc. As all the transactions within the game are recorded on a blockchain, they are immutable and cannot be erased. Thus, the user can access them each time he wants to play a game. Cryptocurrency is also being used to develop E-Sports on the line of pay-as-play, which means users will not have to pay for a fixed time to play a game but will pay only for the number of times they play a particular game.
It remains to be seen whether Chess will appeal to E-Sports users in its traditional form or will some changes be made in its rules to attract the E-Sports crowd.
