Croatia Makes History: First National Team to Reward Fans with Crypto Tokens

National sports teams enter the blockchain era as Croatia pioneers fan engagement through digital assets.

Game-Changing Fan Rewards

The Croatian national football team just scored a historic first in sports marketing—distributing cryptocurrency rewards directly to supporters. This move bypasses traditional loyalty programs and puts digital assets directly into fans' wallets.

Building Community Through Blockchain

Fans receive tokens that can be traded, held as collectibles, or used for exclusive team merchandise and experiences. The program cuts out middlemen and creates a direct economic relationship between the team and its global supporter base.

Sports teams finally discovering what crypto enthusiasts knew years ago—that digital assets create stronger community bonds than any corporate-sponsored loyalty card ever could. Traditional sports marketers are scrambling to catch up while fans enjoy actual ownership of their team allegiance.

This isn't just another fan club—it's a blockchain-powered revolution in sports economics that leaves traditional reward programs looking like amateur league contenders.

Blockchain gives sports teams unique benefits

With the Kadena collaboration, the VATRENI token will migrate from Polygon, where it launched in 2023, to the Kadena blockchain. According to Joel Woodman, head of partnerships at Kadena, blockchain enables football teams to unite fragmented solutions for ticketing, merchandise, and membership into one system.

“From the fan’s perspective, the underlying blockchain technology is invisible by design. Our priority is to deliver value through a seamless and familiar user experience, allowing fans to interact naturally without a learning curve. The key benefit, both for the fan and the club, is the ability to offer more relevant, personalized experiences and rewards—powered by superior data and real-time insights—while removing friction from the digital experience.” said Joel Woodman, Kadena.

The VATRENI token is tradable on exchanges, including Binance. Despite this, trading volumes are low. On Oct. 7, 24-hour centralized-exchange volumes were about $17,000, while the token’s market cap was roughly $4.8 million.