Ex-soccer stars, technologists announce DLT-powered social network Olyseum for sports fans

Soccer, Bloomington, Indiana. The offensive player (in red) has sprinted past two defenders (in white) and is about to shoot the ball at the goal or pass it across the field to a teammate in front of the goal.

Former FC Barcelona players Carles Puyol, Iván de la Peña and Andrés Iniesta together with Kevin Mitnick, the world’s most notorious hacker, and trained neuroscientist Carlos Grenoir have announced a distributed ledger technology (DLT)/blockchain-powered social network called Olyseum to empower sports fans.

Grenoir is the CEO and Mitnick is the chief security officer of Olyseum, while the ex-soccer players are the co-founders.

The social network, which is expected to officially launch later in 2018, will connect fans with their sporting heroes, aiming to forge closer, meaningful relationships between them with a focus on security, data ownership and incentives.

In 2016, on its initial launch in Spanish, Olyseum was the most downloaded sports app from the App Store in six countries.

Puyol at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, alongside Brazilian model and actress Gisele Bündchen.

Puyol, who is also the ex-Barcelona captain, said in a press release CoinReport received from Wachsman, Olyseum’s PR company, “Throughout my career with FC Barcelona, I’ve had the unwavering support of millions of fans worldwide. With the desire to expand the limits of real and genuine participation of fans, Andrés, Iván and I joined together to create a collaborative space for lovers of this beautiful sport and interact with users moved by the same feeling.”

Before founding the social network, Grenoir developed Quantum Fields Technologies, which specialized in security projects, research and development in AI and intelligent social networks. Mitnick, one of the world’s most experienced and elite security consultants, has worked with a number of Fortune 500 firms and the FBI.

Grenoir commented, “For too long, there has been a disconnect between idols and their fans, limiting the quality of fan-idol engagement. Olyseum is here to bridge that gap, creating a social network that empowers the individual, and most importantly, rewards their participation. I’ve always been fascinated in the art of improving human relations, especially through harnessing the power of computers and technology. When Carles, Andrés, and Iván came to me with the shared problem of limited fan engagement, I felt compelled to deploy my knowledge and skills to help create a solution.”

Olyseum’s incentive program will be powered by smart contracts for fans contributing to the community. These contributions will be rewarded in the form of unique experiences with sporting heroes, VIP tickets to sporting events and exclusive merchandize.

“The World Cup brings impassioned fans together from around the world, all speaking the same international language of football and we look forward to testing our network among the international football community in the coming weeks. The values of inclusion and collaboration are intrinsically linked to our platform, which will be underpinned by blockchain technology. We firmly believe that fans deserve to share the success of their idols, and now there is a platform that supports this vision. We are honored to be the enablers of dreams, bringing fans and idols closer together,” concluded Grenoir.

Image credits:

Soccer game in Indiana – Rdikeman at the English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Puyol/Bündchen photo – Danilo Borges/copa2014.gov.br Licença Creative Commons Atribuição 3.0 Brasil (Source) (CC BY 3.0 BR)