FC Barcelona unveils Barca Pass crypto wallet, NFT avatars

The soccer club is using the XRP-compatible Root blockchain and is expected to release a mobile racing game, too

article-image

FC Barcelona and A-R-T/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


FC Barcelona, the Spanish soccer club Forbes values at $5.65 billion, is releasing a wallet for its upcoming NFTs called Barça.Pass as part of its digital strategy. 

Anyone with a Barça ID can now claim a wallet and will ultimately be able to use it to create an FC Barcelona avatar NFT, customize the character with official merch, and collect other types of digital items in anticipation of an upcoming FCB mobile racing game.

Crypto infra firm Futureverse set up the Barça Pass. Futureverse CEO Aaron McDonald told me that the NFT avatars will exist on the gaming-focused L1 blockchain Root and can be equipped with “semi-fungible” wearable digital items. Root is EVM-compatible and uses XRP as its gas token as well as the XRPL XLS-20 NFT standard. 

Wearables will be purchasable via FCB’s Shopify integration, McDonald explained. 

Traders will also be able to buy or sell FCB digital items on marketplaces like Tradeverse that are integrated with the Root chain’s ecosystem, and can buy those items with crypto like ROOT or XRP. 

Over 11 million Barça IDs had already been created before the launch, according to the post from FCB.

Image: FC Barcelona image teasing the upcoming avatars.

The wallet won’t just be a wrapper to hold your avatar, though. McDonald told me the Pass will support “a wide range of onchain experiences and applications that developers build.”

Image: Teaser image of FCB’s anticipated racing game.

FCB has previously lent its name to different (non-crypto) mobile games over the years, including an endless runner mobile game roughly a decade ago and even a cooking game in 2018. 

Last year, it launched a mobile minigame app called Barça Games, but that app is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

Back in 2020, FCB tried its hand at crypto with an FC Barcelona fan token, BAR, on Chiliz. 

That token hit a market cap of nearly $125 million in 2021 — and today sits at $13.2 million.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (8).png

Research

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

article-image

BTC finished the week up 1.6%, while L2s, RWAs and the treasury trade continued to grind lower

article-image

DTCC moves DTC-custodied Treasuries onchain via Canton, while Lighter’s LIT launches trading at a fees multiple in Hyperliquid territory

article-image

In the 90s, rapt audiences worldwide watched a coffee pot — will that fascination ever turn to crypto?

article-image

Some systems improve by failing — and crypto has no choice

article-image

Yield Basis introduces an IL-free AMM design that already dominates BTC DEX liquidity

article-image

Maybe tokenholders don’t need the rights that corporate shareholders have come to expect

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Blockworks Research

Unlock crypto's most powerful research platform.

Our research packs a punch and gives you actionable takeaways for each topic.

SubscribeGet in touch

Blockworks Inc.

133 W 19th St., New York, NY 10011

Blockworks Network

NewsPodcastsNewslettersEventsRoundtablesAnalytics