Leeds United's cryptocurrency value plummets: How much did Whites investors lose compared to Everton, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Napoli in 2022

Leeds United, in partnership with Chiliz - the leading global blockchain providers for the sports and entertainment industry – announced in August 2021 that they were launching a $LUFC Fan Token on the fan engagement and rewards app Socios.com.

Fan tokens could be purchased for £2 at launch, and on January 1, 2022, the token was worth $5.4789 (£4.43).

But according to a new study by crypto trading guide Trading Browser which has analysed the price action of these fan tokens over the course of 2022, Leeds United’s was the worst performing token out of all the football clubs operating in the cryptocurrency space.

Using the data, Trading Browser calculated how much money you would be starting 2023 with if you invested $100 into each coin on January 1st 2022.

Over the last few years crypto has begun to integrate with sports through the introduction of crypto fan tokens. Purchasing these tokens allows fans to invest in their club and engage in different ways, including allowing fans to vote on decisions within the club and have access to certain exclusives.

But are they profitable?

It has to be said, 2022 was known as a ‘crypto winter’ as hundreds of stocks plummeted, with leading stocks Bitcoin and Ethereum seeing nearly a third wiped off of their overall value.

There has been a rally to start this year, but these figures for football clubs in 2022, particularly Leeds United, are staggering.

Figures from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2023.

Bottom 5

1– $LUFC - Leeds

Just like the Premier League table, Leeds finds themselves in the bottom half of this list. Leeds have encountered the biggest losses with the price of their $LUFC token plummeting from $5.4789 to just $0.6531. This means that of a $100 investment, fans would have only $11.92 left.

PNL: -88.08%

2 – $LEV – Levante

Levante play in the Spanish second division and are based in Valencia. Currently third in the league their crypto token performance hasn’t been as positive. Worth $2.2926 in January 2022, the price has fallen over the year to $0.3635 on January 1st 2023. This would leave fans with $15.86 if they invested $100 into their team’s token.

PNL: -84.14%

3 – $EFC – Everton

Everton fans won't be happy anyway right now due to their ongoing relegation battle. It gets even worse if any of those fans invested in the $EFC token last year, as the price fell from $2.3692 to $0.4234, leaving fans with $17.87 left from the initial $100 investment.

PNL: -82.13%

4 – $DZG - Dinamo Zagreb

Dinamo Zagreb are currently first in the Croatian football league, so most fans will be happy with their team's performance, more so than their $DSG token performance. Its initial low price of $0.9306 means that $100 would have bought you 107.4576 tokens at the start of January 2022, which if sold on January 1st 2023 would have netted you $23.2646.

PNL: -76.74%

5 – $AVL - Aston Villa

Aston Villa are one of the founding teams of the Premier League and also one of the first teams to launch a fan token, although it was met with mixed emotions. The price started at $2.2926, so $100 would have bought 43.6186 tokens. The market conditions lead to the price dropping to $0.6267. This would mean that fans who invested $100 would be left with just $27.3358.

PNL: -72.66%

Top 5 performing fan tokens in 2022:

1 – $SANTOS - Santos FC

Santos are a Brazilian football team that Pele famously played for, and are one of the biggest teams in South America. In January 2022 their $SANTOS fan token was worth $3.5038, which means that a $100 investment would have bought 28.5404 tokens. The price of the token has since risen to $4.2954 which means a $100 investment would have ended with $122.59, a 22.59% increase, the most out of any fan token.

PNL: 22.59%

2 – $NAP – Napoli

S.S.C Napoli play in the topflight of Italian football, Serie A, which they have won twice. Their token $NAP was worth $3.2522 in January 2022, which would have purchased 30.7484 tokens. In January 2023 the price has risen to $3.9388 which means that the original $100 would now be worth $121.11.

PNL: 21.11%

3 – $ASM - AS Monaco

AS Monaco play in the French Ligue 1, which they have one eight times. In January 2022 their token $ASM was worth $1.1225. $100 would have bought 89.0869 tokens. The price change over the year ended on $1.1337. This slight increase means fans would have $101.00

PNL: 1.00%

4 – $LAZIO - Lazio

Rome-based Lazio, who play in Serie A, rank fourth, although despite being in the top five it’s not good news for fans. The $LAZIO token was worth $4.6154 on January 1st 2022. This would have bought fans 21.6666 tokens with their $100. The price, however, dropped to $2.9683, meaning fans would have only $64.31 left of their initial investment.

PNL: -35.69%

5 – $AFC – Arsenal

Arsenal are the first Premier League team in this list, they are also the best performing, which sets a bad precedent for any other English clubs as they also start 2023 with a loss. The starting price in 2022 was $3.1948, this had dropped to $1.9697 by January 1st 2023. This means that Arsenal fans who invested $100 would be left with $61.65.

PNL: -38.35%

A spokesperson from Trading Browser commented: “Crypto is quickly seeping into many parts of society. Its integration with sports teams has been met with a plethora of views.

"Proponents highlight the engagement and interaction that these technologies allow fans to have with their favourite teams, and say it gives an increased sense of loyalty and community, however like any investment there are risk factors.

“Over the last year, there have been volatile market conditions and many investors have lost money. Therefore it’s important to never invest what you can’t afford and to do your own in-depth research before you invest.”