FIFA wanted Avalanche's blockchain to help curb World Cup ticket scalping. Here's how it's going
CoinDesk 2026-06-17 19:08:43
Context: The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is unfolding across North America, is serving as a testing ground for a new ticketing system developed by FIFA in collaboration with Avalanche, a blockchain platform. This system aims to curb ticket scalping and fraud by utilizing a blockchain-based model that gives fans priority access to purchase tickets. The model has been implemented through FIFA Collect, the federation's digital collectibles and fan platform.
Key Facts
- FIFA is using the Avalanche network and Modex to power a new ticketing model designed to address issues such as bots, ticket fraud, and runaway secondary-market prices, with a customizable Avalanche Layer-1 blockchain known as the FIFA blockchain.
- The ticketing system revolves around two features: a Right-to-Buy (RTB) and a Right-to-Ticket (RTT), which are digital entitlements that give fans priority access to purchase specific tickets before they become publicly available.
- More than 100,000 RTBs have been issued to date, with over 50,000 Club World Cup tickets distributed in bundles with RTBs, and secondary-market volume for RTTs has surpassed $15 million, while combined RTB and RTT volume has exceeded $25 million.
- The RTB model shifts where the secondary sales market takes place, allowing FIFA to bring some of the activity back into its own ecosystem, rather than relying on third-party marketplaces like StubHub, SeatGeek, or Vivid Seats.
- The system provides benefits to both fans and FIFA, including greater certainty for fans and increased visibility into who ultimately attends events for FIFA, with the added benefit of reducing fraud and fake secondary sales through on-chain verification of tickets.