In a move that bridges blockchain infrastructure with the economics of professional football, MANTRA and WIN Investments have launched a strategic collaboration to
MANTRA and WIN Investments are joining forces to tokenize real-world sports assets, combining Layer 1 blockchain technology with a fintech platform that integrates the economics of professional football with tokenized assets. The partnership aims to offer accessible, regulated onchain exposure to one of the world’s most valuable and largely untapped sports markets: football (soccer) player transfers.
As a fintech startup focused on compliant sports-related assets, WIN Investments has developed a system that allows fans and investors to partciopate in revenue streams generated by international player transfers. Operating under a regulated framework, WIN issues utility tokens and digital securities linked to tangible assets, be it players’ rights or club entitlements.
A key aspect of WIN’s model is its integration with the FIFA Solidarity Mechanism, a structure that allocates a percentage of future transfer fees to youth clubs involved in a player’s development. With youth clubs typically receiving 0-4% of a transfer fee in accordance with the player’s age at the time of joining the academy, this initiative creates an avenue for broader participation in the football industry’s vast financial flows.
According to FIFA’s 2024 Global Transfer Report, global football transfers last year alone (March 2023-Feb 2024) lock in an estimated $66 billion in value, with $8.59 billion in transfer activity and $3.3 billion in solidarity contributions.
So far, WIN has managed to accumulate $7.4 million in assets under management, derived from 130 player transfers and partnerships with 16 clubs. Among the athletes on WIN’s books are top-tier names like Alexis Mac Allister (World Champion 2022) and Emiliano Martínez (Best Goalkeeper in Qatar World Cup 2022). By the end of 2025, the company aims to tokenize AUM in excess of $20 million.
This partnership provides WIN with access to MANTRA’s Layer 1 blockchain infrastructure, which is specifically designed for efficient real-world asset tokenization and is designed to meet regulatory standards. Based in Dubai, MANTRA is currently licensed by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP). This permits MANTRA to offer exchange, brokerage, and investment services in cryptocurrencies and related services.
“Combining a compliant blockchain environment with a sports investment platform allows us to tokenize a globally recognized asset class at scale. Latin America, with its deep football culture and regulatory evolution in digital assets, presents a logical starting point for launching these products.” said John Patrick Mullin, CEO of MANTRA.
The companies are aiming to launch fan and investor-facing products within the MANTRA ecosystem in Q4 2025. Among the offerings will be ‘transfer tokens’—digital assets that signify a fractional claim on the revenue from a specific player’s next transfer, designed to function in accordance with FIFA’s solidarity rules and youth club percentages.
This partnership follows a series of strategic developments from MANTRA, including being awarded the first DeFi license from VARA and launching RWAccelerator, a startup accelerator program focused on ventures in tokenized real-world assets and supported by Google Cloud.
