What is Shirtum (SHI)?

Quick Facts

  • Token symbol: SHI
  • Blockchains: BNB Smart Chain and Ethereum
  • Category: Football NFT platform and fan token
  • Token launch: 2021 via private and community sales
  • Key concept: Digital sports memorabilia linked to professional footballers
  • Status: Under active legal investigation in Spain as of 2025-2026

Introduction

Shirtum (SHI) is a blockchain-based platform originally designed to connect professional football players with their fans through exclusive digital collectibles. The concept positioned SHI as the native utility token for purchasing, trading, and collecting NFTs tied to iconic moments from footballers' careers.

The project attracted significant attention by partnering with well-known players, particularly former Sevilla FC stars. However, Shirtum has since become the subject of a major fraud investigation in Spain, with alleged investor losses potentially exceeding €24 million.

History & Background

Shirtum launched its token sale in mid-2021, conducting private rounds followed by a community sale. Early marketing emphasized partnerships with recognizable football figures, including Copa América winners, which helped the project gain rapid visibility.

By 2022, the project began to stall. The platform was never fully delivered as promised, and in 2025 a criminal complaint was filed in Barcelona. In mid-2025, the SHI token was withdrawn from PancakeSwap, causing its value to collapse almost entirely.

How Shirtum Works

The original design positioned Shirtum as a marketplace for 'filmic NFTs' — digital assets featuring photos, videos, and personal messages from professional footballers. Fans could purchase these NFTs using SHI tokens, either via the platform's web app or a dedicated mobile application.

The SHI token was issued on BNB Smart Chain as a BEP-20 token, with a later expansion to Ethereum. Token burn mechanics were incorporated into the design, with a portion of NFT sale revenue periodically used to repurchase and burn SHI from the market.

Tokenomics

SHI was designed as a utility token to power all transactions within the Shirtum ecosystem. The economic model included token burns funded by NFT sales revenue, intended to reduce supply and support token value over time.

However, investigators allege that a large majority of the total token supply was allocated to insiders — developers and associated footballers — at no cost, which enabled alleged market manipulation.

Circulating Supply ? 433.11 million SHI
Total supply ? 749.30 million SHI
Max supply ? -- SHI
Updated 4w ago

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Within Shirtum's proposed ecosystem, SHI was intended to serve several roles: purchasing exclusive player NFTs, trading digital memorabilia on the marketplace, and potentially accessing staking rewards. The platform also aimed to allow fiat purchases of tokens, lowering the barrier for non-crypto users.

Team, Governance & Community

Shirtum was operated by Shirtum Europa, S.L.U., a Spanish company. The founding team included individuals from Spain, Andorra, Argentina, Italy, and the United States. Several professional footballers were signed as partners and promotional faces of the project.

A Barcelona court investigation named multiple individuals accused of running the operation, alongside several football players alleged to have promoted and benefited from the scheme.

Advantages

  • Compelling use case: Digital sports memorabilia has genuine fan appeal and a broad potential market.
  • Multi-chain presence: Deployment on both BNB Smart Chain and Ethereum broadens accessibility.
  • Fiat on-ramp: The intention to allow fiat payments lowered the barrier to entry for mainstream sports fans.

Risks & Challenges

  • Active fraud investigation: A Barcelona court is investigating alleged fraud exceeding €24 million in investor losses.
  • Alleged fake NFTs: Investigators claim sold NFTs were never properly minted on-chain and were non-transferable.
  • Token collapse: SHI was withdrawn from PancakeSwap in 2025, causing near-total value collapse.
  • Insider concentration: Allegations suggest a heavily skewed token distribution favoring insiders enabled a pump-and-dump scheme.
  • Platform non-delivery: The promised app and marketplace were reportedly never fully launched as described.

Long-Term Vision

Shirtum's original long-term vision was to become the leading global marketplace for football digital collectibles, expanding beyond individual players to entire football clubs and other sports. However, given the ongoing legal proceedings, collapsed token value, and undelivered platform, the project's future is deeply uncertain. The Shirtum case has become a widely referenced cautionary example of the risks associated with celebrity-backed crypto ventures in the NFT space.

Frequently Asked Questions

Shirtum is a blockchain-based platform originally designed to let football fans buy and collect exclusive digital NFTs linked to professional players' iconic career moments. Its native token, SHI, was used to purchase and trade these digital assets on the platform.

SHI was originally launched as a BEP-20 token on BNB Smart Chain, with a later expansion to Ethereum as an ERC-20 token. Both contract addresses are publicly verifiable on their respective chains.

A Barcelona court is investigating Shirtum for alleged fraud, including claims that NFTs sold to investors were never properly minted on-chain and were therefore non-functional. Investigators also allege that insiders held a disproportionate share of SHI tokens and sold them in a pump-and-dump scheme.

In mid-2025, the SHI token was withdrawn from PancakeSwap by those controlling the project, causing its value to collapse to near zero. The token is no longer actively traded on major exchanges.

Several former Sevilla FC players were named in the investigation, including Ivan Rakitic, Papu Gomez, Lucas Ocampos, Nico Pareja, Alberto Moreno, and Javier Saviola. Their public profiles were used to promote the project and attract investors.

Investigators allege that the NFTs sold by Shirtum were never properly minted on a blockchain, making them non-transferable and unverifiable as genuine digital assets. This is one of the central claims in the ongoing criminal investigation.

Shirtum's design included a mechanism where 1% of NFT sale revenue would be used every seven days to buy back SHI from the market, with all repurchased tokens burned to reduce supply. This mechanism was intended to support long-term token value.

Shirtum carries extremely high risk given the active criminal investigation in Spain, the near-total collapse of the SHI token, and allegations of fraud. Prospective participants should be aware that the token is essentially non-functional and under serious legal scrutiny.