Is the world's first cryptocurrency transfer just around the corner?

Imagine discovering the summers biggest transfer fees relayed in cryptocurrency rather than euros, pound sterling or dollars. Instead of reading headlines screaming about Cristiano Ronaldo's €100 million or £88.3 million transfer to Juventus, we would find news sources quoting the fee as 14,206 Bitcoin (BTC) or in any number of other cryptocurrencies.

It may not have quite the same ring to it but could become a reality sooner than you think. Back in January of this year, Turkish amateur club, Harunustaspor, became the first team in the world to pay a portion of a player's signing on fee in cryptocurrency.

While the transfer itself wasn't paid in the digital currency, the payment of 0.0524BTC (equal to around $385 at the time) to the player was a world first. The chairman of the club, Haldun Sehit, hoped the transaction would "make a name for ourselves in the country and the world". However, his actions were more than just a publicity stunt.

Gibraltar United FC (photo courtesy of Gibraltar United's official Twitter account)

Six months later and a semi-professional team playing in the Gibraltar Premier League is set to become the first club in the world to pay their players in part with cryptocurrency. Gibraltar United has started a sponsorship deal with the cryptocurrency, Quantocoin, which will result in all player contracts featuring a payment agreement in the digital coin by next season.

This announcement may seem far from the billions of euro, pound sterling, and dollar spent across Europe's top leagues. However, it is an entry point for cryptocurrency into the football world which could rapidly spread to more significant changes in how player contracts and transfers are dealt with in Europe's major leagues.

Gibraltar regulated cryptocurrencies at the beginning of this year, bringing transparency and safety to transactions made with digital coins. This provided the groundwork for Gibraltar United to write cryptocurrency payments into player contracts. Other European countries may follow suit in regulating blockchain in the coming months with leaders of major European nations agreeing to discuss regulatory proposals for cryptocurrencies.

Should a framework for the use of cryptocurrencies be set out across Europe, the virtual coins will inevitably find their way into the lucrative football market. In fact, cryptocurrencies have already made tentative moves into sponsorship deals with clubs and players, laying the foundation for future use of blockchains in club to club transactions or club to player contracts.

Lionel Messi is a brand ambassador for a blockchain coin

In January 2018, Arsenal became the first major football team to sign a sponsorship deal with a cryptocurrency., Cashbet Coin. Another blockchain startup, SIRIN LABS, snapped up Lionel Messi as their brand ambassador in December 2017. These high-profile sponsorship deals display the eagerness of cryptocurrencies to have a presence in the highest levels of football.

While actual cryptocurrency transactions have been small-scale and restricted to the backwaters of European football thus far, the potential for a high-profile transaction using a digital coin in the near future is undeniable.

The rapid rise in the value of cryptocurrencies over the past few years is akin to the exponential rise in the value of football as a whole over the past two decades. Perhaps both are on course for a blissful relationship in the not so distant future.