Introduction
The world of sports is ever growing and ever changing. Apart from the fact that sports keep us fit, they also help to unite people of different cultures from all over the world. It is therefore not a surprise that this industry would begin to flourish in the trend shift created by decentralization and blockchain.
Professor @imagen has been properly explained an in interesting topic especially for we sports lovers. After carefully going through the lesson, I will now complete the tasks.
(1.) Describe the Proof-of-Authority (PoA) protocol
The term, Proof of Authority, was first used by Gavin Wood in 2017. In a bid to improve on already existing consensus mechanisms like PoW and PoS, this protocol was proposed and eventually developed.
Proof-of-Authority is a special consensus mechanism that works in a similar fashion as Proof-of-Stake. However, unlike the PoS which relies on staking coins, the PoA works with staked reputation. In order words, identity works as stake. This means that nodes put their reputation on the line to become trustworthy validators. The element of Trust is very important in the system and with that in mind, it is safe to say that only a few nodes are required and selected to be validators.
The PoA protocol was developed to be a more scalable solution to both PoW and PoS. For a node to be chosen as a validator, it has to prove itself as a trustworthy identity first. This means that any blockchain using this system is Permissioned because validators are preselected by the network. Since the validators are preselected according to their reputation, the risk of an attack is greatly minimized.
Differences between PoA and PoW
| PoW | PoA |
|---|---|
| PoW involves mining blocks | PoA does not involve mining rather blocks are validated. |
| PoW requires a lot computational power | PoA does not require so much computational power |
| Anybody can be a miner in PoW and so the protocol is permissionless | Validators are preselected in the PoA consensus mechanism and so the the mechanism is permissioned. |
(2.) Who are the partners or sponsors of Socios.com?
To find the sponsors of Socios.com, I visited the Socios website, navigated to the Company tab and clicked on Partners.
There are nine (9) categories of partners which I will mention below.
Football
FC Barcelona, Juventus F.C, Paris Saint-German F.C, A.C. Milan, A.S. Roma, Atlético de Madrid, Club Atlético Independiente, Galatasaray S.K., İstanbul Başakşehir F.K., Manchester City F.C., Novara Calcio, Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging, Trabzonspor, Club Universidad de Chile, BSC Young Boys, Apollon Limassol, Legia Warsaw, Fortuna Sittard, Göztepe S.K., Alanyaspor, Levante, Argentina, GALO, Valencia, Corinthians, Portugal, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb, Everton, Leeds, Aston Villa, Pohang Steelers, Flamengo Esports, Samsunspor, São Paulo FC, Racing Club de Avellaneda, Bologna F.C. 1909, Gaziantep F.K., Napoli, Millonarios F.C., New England Revolution, Santos Laguna, Atlas F.C., AS Monaco, Italian Football Federation, Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras and Crystal Palace FC.
Gaming
Alliance, Natus Vincere, Team Heretics, OG, Team Vitality and Endpoint Esports.
Fighting
Professional Fighters league and Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Motorsport
Roush Fenway Racing, Aston Martin Cognizant f1 Team and Alfa Romeo Racing.
Cricket
Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Caribbean Premier League.
Basketball
Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs. Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
Tennis
Davis Cup.
American Football
New England Patriots.
Ice Hockey
New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins.
(3.) Download and install the Socios.com application . Create an account. Explore the application and describe its functions. Show Screenshots (If necessary use a VPN if the application is not available in your country or locality).
Step 1: On my iOS device, I visited the App Store, searched for the App and found it. I clicked on Get to install it and validated the process with Face ID to continue.
Step 2: As soon as the app was downloaded, I launched it and clicked on Get Started.
Step 3: I inputted my phone number and clicked on Send Verification Code.
Note: I repeated step 3 over and over again but there was no code sent. So I was not able to complete the task.
(4.) Make a purchase of the CHZ token for a minimum value of 10 USD from your verified account of the exchange of your choice. Describe the process. Indicate the ATH of the coin and when it was reached. Show Screenshots.
Below is my verified Binance account.
Making a purchase of CHZ worth at least $10.
Step 1: On Binance desktop app, click on Trade.
Step 2: Choose the CHZ/USDT pair as shown below.
Step 3: I chose the market order so the order would be completed quickly. Then I inputted the amount of USDT I wanted to buy with and clicked on buy.
The order is filled immediately as shown below;
All-Time High of CHZ and when it was reached
Looking at the image above, according to data from CoinMarketCap, the All-Time High of CHZ is $0.8915. This price was reached on the 13th of May 2021 which is 9 months before the time of making this post.
(5.) Enter the Chiliz Exchange and indicate the prices in CHZ and their equivalent in USD of the following Fan Tokens at the time of writing your assignment: FC Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. Show Screenshots.
Visiting the Chiliz Exchange, we can see the prices of FC Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-German Fan Tokens in CHZ and approximations in USD.
| Fan Token | Price in CHZ | Price in USD |
|---|---|---|
| FC Barcelona | 29.71 | 7.97 |
| Juventus | 30.63 | 8.21 |
| Paris Saint-German | 50.87 | 13.64 |
(6.) How is the value of a club or team's Fan Token affected before and after playing a match? If the result is a victory, does its value go up? On the contrary, if it suffers a defeat, does its price go down in the market? Reason for your answer and present at least one recent example, preferably in the week between Sunday 12 and Saturday 18 December.
For this task, I would like to present a match that took place on the 14th of December between Manchester City and Leeds United.
From the screenshot above, we can see that Manchester City won the match by a landslide with a score of 7-0. Let us see how the individual fan token prices behaved after this match;
Manchester City Fan Token (CITY)
Before the match at 20:00 UTC on the 14th of December, the CITY token was in a sideways motion which it continued after the match. It was until the next day that the token experienced a downtrend despite the fact that Manchester City had won the match.
Leeds United Fan Token (LUFC)
After the match, there was a very small downward movement. After a while, the token began an uptrend into the following morning despite the loss incurred by the team.
From the observations above, Manchester City won the match hands down with a score of 7 to nothing and despite that, the price of the token sill experienced a downtrend the following day. LUFC, on the other hand, had quite a growth despite the loss. With this, I believe that the outcome of a match does not necessarily affect the price movement of the fan tokens of the teams involved.
Conclusions
Blockchain technology is rapidly invading many aspects of our lives and changing the way we interact with one another and the environment. This technology has proven to be very useful in the sports especially with large sponsors buying into the idea. The Chiliz project is a big innovation that will probably get bigger as more and more players come into the space.