Karate Combat is the first fan-controlled full contact striking league that is governed by viewers through the sports’ official $KARATE token, which not only lets fans earn more of the same token by voting on their favorite fighters, but it even helps the real-world fighters themselves earn from bigger prize pools! Let’s see how this works.

How Does $KARATE Power This Sports League?

Using the web app or the mobile version available on Android and iOS, token holders can support fighters with bigger prize pools by voting for them. Those who end up having the most fan votes get to compete for bigger league reward pools. Next to influencing the quantity of rewards fighters can compete for, token holders can even participate in league governance, as the league is said to have been sold to an ownerless foundation, making this a league truly governed by its fans. Thanks to this DAO-like structure, holders can vote on various governance proposals that may include modifying rules, deciding the best fight of the night, and more. Holders can also enjoy token-gated experiences that range from unlocking merch to gaining access to exclusive real-world events.

Before a match takes place, you will be given the option to vote for the fighter you think will win using $KARATE tokens 48 hours before the match starts, with the allocation amount determined by you. If the fighter you voted on wins, you’re rewarded with more tokens. Votes also help the winning fighter win more rewards, so the more votes someone has, the more tokens they get. A win-win situation. Voters gain even more tokens if the underdog they voted on ends up winning the match. If the fighter you voted on loses, then nothing is lost for you as the voter, as the app actually gives you your tokens back to use for future matches, allowing you to enjoy a risk-free experience. It's also possible to delegate your voting power to players with high win percentages to help you earn more.

How to Start Voting

It’s easy to get started using the league’s Hedera-powered app, even if you’re new to crypto. While you can simply connect your wallet to the web app on the official website, if you want a more accessible, user-friendly experience, then you’ll probably want to download the app on the Play Store or App Store to have a new wallet created for you. Creating a new wallet through the mobile version will require setting up biometrics though, allowing you to create a wallet with the press of your finger. Once the wallet is created, the mobile app will award you with a couple of tokens and show your Secret Recovery Phrase that you’ll want to keep safe in case you ever need it. The app uses Blade Wallet, a self-custody Web3 wallet on Hedera, to create wallets for users, so if you ever want to take the created wallet outside the app, then the Secret Recovery Phrase will allow you to do so. Blade Wallet is available as a web browser extension but can also be downloaded on Android and iOS via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store respectively.

In any case, once you’re done and connected, you can head over to the rankings section to set up a unique username to be displayed on leaderboards (from which you might win NFT prizes). With that, you’re set to enjoy a no-lose gamified experience, voting on favorite fighters in the Play tab in a league featuring a diverse roster of more than 100 top karate fighters in the world. Before voting you can check each fighter’s profile, tapping on their card to get info such as fight history, weight, height and more. There’s even a link to a web page in each fighter’s profile where you can find the contestant’s bio and way more detailed stats such as total strikes landed, takedown accuracy and more, all of which could help you potentially better decide on who to vote for.

The more tokens you have to vote with, the more you can earn, so if the free tokens given aren’t enough for you, then you have the option to buy more by having the mobile app take you to C14, a fiat to crypto payment ramp that makes it easy to purchase more tokens the traditional Web2 way. It’s important to buy the tokens before voting begins, as only tokens that are in your balance before the voting event starts are eligible. Since this method requires verifying your phone number, the number of supported countries is limited, so if your country isn’t available then you may have to buy tokens on SaucerSwap V2, a DEX on Hedera, or find $KARATE on centralized exchanges that support withdrawing to the Hedera network. Next to $KARATE, users can also send Hedera’s token $HBAR to the wallet, and have the $HBAR swapped to $KARATE inside the app.

With the KC48 event coming up this July 25th, now may be the time to hop in. If you like the idea of combining martial arts fighting with a gamified crypto experience, then you may want to check this vote to earn app out. Joe Rogan certainly did in last year’s episode with the league’s chairman, Bas Rutten. That same year, Karate Combat also successfully raised $18 million in a funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures.