Fantasy-Sports Firm Sorare Looks to Increase Appeal by Diluting Crypto Association

• Sorare users no longer have to use ether to buy the the Web3 fantasy-sports platform's digital trading cards, eliminating "one of the main barriers to entry."
• However, the trading cards are still NFTs and are still transacted on the blockchain.

Web3 fantasy-sports company Sorare now supports fiat payments for its digital trading cards, removing the requirement for users to pay in ether (ETH) and eliminating what the company called "one of the main barriers to entry."

Sorare is a blockchain-based game that allows users, called managers, to buy and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs) representing elite sports players to build teams that they enter into competitions. The platform is licensed by some of the world's biggest sports leagues, including Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and soccer's Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga.

While Sorare has over 5 million registered managers, it may now see the association with crypto as a hindrance to further growth and has introduced support for the U.S. dollar, the euro and the British pound. The move follows that of fellow NFT-related sports game NBA Top Shot, which accepts U.S. dollars.

As well as trying to spur user growth, the platforms may be trying to water down their association with cryptocurrency owing to lingering negative connotations due to events of the last year or so, such as the crypto market's collapse and crypto exchange FTX's dramatic implosion in November.

Removing the obligation to pay in ETH on the platform "eliminates one of the main barriers to entry and makes it easier than ever for existing and new Managers to experience its fantasy sports game and marketplace," Sorare said in an emailed announcement on Monday.

An uptick in the use of Sorare may nevertheless have a positive effect on the broader adoption of digital assets and decentralized technology because the trading cards are still NFTs and the transactions are still recorded on the blockchain.

Read More: Nike Is Bringing Its .SWOOSH NFTs to EA Sports Games

UPDATE (July 31, 11:56 UTC): Updates number of Sorare users in third paragraph.

UPDATE (July 31, 11:50 UTC): Changes number of registered Sorare users from 4 million to 5 million