FIFA Teams Up With Avalanche to Build Layer 1 Blockchain

Global football federation FIFA announced today that it has teamed up with Avalanche to build its own blockchain.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association’s FIFA Blockchain will be an Avalanche L1 blockchain – previously called subnets – built using the Avalanche network’s scalability-focused technology. The blockchain will host FIFA’s existing NFT collection, which will be ported over from Algorand and Polygon. It will also be dedicated to providing fan experiences.

In a blog post, Avalanche said that its technology would allow the FIFA blockchain to function even under the weight of a World Cup, when the sport’s five billion fans tune in.

World Cup 2026 will be played in North America, spread across Mexico, the United States and Canada.

While FIFA President Gianni Infantino teased a FIFA Coin at the White House Crypto Roundtable in March, Avalanche did not mention the blockchain’s token.

Switching to EVM

FIFA first announced that it was building a blockchain on an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible platform in April, saying it would migrate the FIFA Collect NFT collection.

“The FIFA Blockchain is a custom Layer 1 (L1) network, designed to deliver digital collectibles and next-generation fan engagement at a global scale,” Avalanche said. “As digital infrastructure evolves, organizations like FIFA are moving away from fragmented platforms toward unified, purpose-built systems that can scale efficiently and support meaningful user experiences.”

The move comes in the wake of the Avalanche9000 upgrade to the Avalanche network, intended to attract new developers looking to build customized Layer 1s. It also aimed to vastly reduce the cost of deploying an Avalanche Layer 1.

FIFA and Crypto at the White House

FIFA rather took over the open-to-the-public part of the March 7 White House Crypto Roundtable.

For reasons that remain unclear, Trump buddy Infantino was given the first speaking slot, which he dedicated to discussing a new trophy and then announcing plans for the FIFA coin.

“FIFA is very, very interested in developing a FIFA coin, to do it from here, from America, and to conquer the 5 billion soccer fans in the world,” Infantino said. “​​If there is anyone here who is interested to team up with FIFA, here we are.”