Juventus’ fan token (JUV) tumbled more than 13% from its intraday high Monday, underscoring the growing pains that can follow high-profile crypto bids into traditional sports assets.
JUV briefly spiked above $0.85 late Sunday (its strongest level since early November), according to CoinGecko, after news surfaced that stablecoin issuer Tether had made an all-cash takeover offer for Juventus. By early Monday European trading the token had retraced to below $0.74.
The token’s pullback came even as Juventus Football Club’s ordinary shares rallied. The club’s stock jumped just over 14% to €2.50 on Monday after reports that Tether had proposed a €1.1 billion (€2.66 per share) bid for controlling shareholder Exor’s 65.4% stake — a 21% premium — and that Exor rejected the offer. The bid and the letter to Exor were reported by Bloomberg.
Tether, the issuer of USDT (the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap), already holds an 11.53% stake in Juventus. If completed, its all-cash approach would have been one of the most significant moves by a crypto firm into professional sports ownership to date. Exor, the Agnelli family-controlled holding company whose portfolio includes Stellantis (Fiat), said on Saturday it has “no intention of selling any of its shares in Juventus to a third party, including but not restricted to El Salvador-based Tether.”
The episode highlights a divergence that can emerge between token markets and traditional equities. Fan tokens like JUV trade on crypto exchanges and can react quickly to headlines, speculative flows and liquidity changes — sometimes moving independently of the club’s equity, which reflects investor views on corporate control and takeover premiums.
The Tether approach also comes amid a broader surge in crypto sponsorship of sports: sports marketing firm SportQuake says crypto exchanges committed $568 million to sports sponsorships for the 2024–2025 season, a 20% year-over-year increase, with soccer accounting for nearly 60% of new deals.
What to watch next: whether Tether seeks another route to increase its stake, any further statements from Exor or Juventus management, and how JUV’s price responds as the market digests who ultimately governs the club and what that could mean for fan engagement tokens.
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