Blockchain Enters Cricket's 22 Yards: FanCraze's Funding and the ICC Crictos Era

My notebook page from March 2026 is still clear. In a virtual press conference, an ICC official said cricket's digital collection was moving to blockchain. That same day, FanCraze announced it had raised $100 million. Cricket, a game I have covered across endless green fields, was entering a new field—where fans do not merely watch, they hold. Blockchain is not easy to explain, but cricket makes it clearer. Imagine a scorecard that cannot be altered. Blockchain is a shared ledger stored across many computers; no one controls it alone, and no one can erase it. Cricket's first major link with this technology came in 2026, when the ICC made FanCraze its official NFT partner. An NFT is a unique digital certificate. Every video clip, every moment, gets such a certificate to show who owns it. Crictos is a collection of those certified moments. The scale of FanCraze's ambitions became visible with money. In March 2026, the firm said it had received $100 million in Series A funding. That is a huge number for cricket technology. The funding allowed new features. Fans could buy digital packs capturing iconic moments involving players such as Virat Kohli and Shakib Al Hasan. I tried the platform myself as a reporter; it felt less like investment and more like preserving memories in a new form. Fan tokens took this further. Platforms like Socios allow supporters to buy team tokens and vote on decisions—what colour the jersey should be, which song should play on match day. Blockchain ticketing also promises security; a ticket stored in an immutable ledger is difficult to forge. In my years covering this sport, I have learned that cricket is an eleven-man game. The quiet workers matter as much as the stars. Blockchain also works behind the screen. It may seem glamorous because of crypto prices, but its real strength may be service. There are risks. In 2026, the crypto market crashed, and regulators remained uncertain. Some saw FanCraze as another bubble. They were right to be cautious, but they missed the fan's need to belong. Fans do not just want to watch; they want to participate. Fan tokens, Crictos packs, and verified digital ticketing are all efforts to serve that need. The test is whether cricket bodies can keep trust in a volatile market. The next signal will come if major boards start using blockchain for contracts and match-day services, not only nostalgia. That shift would show that technology does not change cricket; cricket uses technology on its own terms.