Croatian national football team taps Kadena blockchain to offer in-app crypto rewardsVATRENI token migrated to Kadena blockchain

The Croatian Football Federation has become the first national football team to roll out automatic cryptocurrency rewards for fans through its official app, integrated with the Kadena blockchain.

Fans of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) can now receive VATRENI tokens as part of the team’s revamped loyalty program, directly within the HNS Official Store app, according to a press release shared with crypto.news.

Any official merchandise purchased through the app, whether it’s a jersey, scarf, or other merchandise, will automatically translate into a 1% cashback reward paid in VATRENI tokens, which can then be redeemed for official gear, exclusive experiences, and eventually match tickets.

VATRENI token migrated to Kadena blockchain

The VATRENI token is the official loyalty crypto token for HNS, which was originally launched in 2022 as an ERC-20 token on Polygon. It has been designed to power the national team’s fan engagement platform and can be used to unlock rewards, participate in exclusive experiences, and play a more active role in the community through token-based interactions.

Although VATRENI is tradeable, it is currently only listed on Gate.io, where it was priced at about $1.25 at the time of writing, up 7.5% in the past 24 hours. 

Following its migration to Kadena, the VATRENI token now benefits from faster transactions, lower fees, and improved scalability.  Tokens received as rewards will be automatically credited to fans’ digital wallets linked to their HNS Official Store accounts, where they can view their balances and track their earnings.

According to Kadena’s Head of Partnerships, Joel Woodman, the latest integration is expected to help improve revenue generation for HNS.

“For the Croatian Football Federation, integrating Kadena is a frictionless leap in fan engagement and monetization. Fans enjoy their familiar app experience, but under the hood, blockchain drives deeper loyalty and new rewards. The federation generates more revenue, reaches fans in smarter ways, and avoids the overhead of old-school loyalty platforms,” Woodman said.

Kadena and the HNS signed a multi-year agreement earlier this year, and the latest integration marks the first live implementation under that partnership.

Crypto and soccer

Crypto-powered fan loyalty programs have become the new niche across the global sports industry, especially among soccer clubs and national teams. 

Other national soccer teams that have launched their own crypto tokens include the Argentine national team, which introduced the ARG token in 2021, as well as Brazil (BFT token) and Portugal (POR token), and Spain (SNFT token), all launched that year.

Meanwhile, prominent football clubs like FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and Juventus, among others, have also introduced similar tokens for fan engagement.