FPL with crypto: a Gaffer league beside your FPL mini league, with a USDC prize pool where paid entry is available

Fantasy Premier League is free, so every mini league that plays for a prize is a separate arrangement: someone collects and someone pays out in May. If your group already holds crypto, one version of that arrangement, where paid entry is available, is a league where each entry, minus the service fee, is paid in USDC at the moment of joining, the prize pool sits in a vault that belongs to the league, and the winners are paid automatically once Gaffer has confirmed the final table. This page explains how that works on Gaffer, what stays the same about the football, and what to agree before anyone pays.

The official game stays free; the prize league is separate

The official game has no entry fees and no part in any mini league prize, which is why groups have always run the money on the side: a payment app and a spreadsheet, or a dues service, where a payout still has to be approved. A Gaffer league is a third way. It is a separate fantasy game with its own squads and its own table, and where paid entry is available it takes each entry at joining, and the winners are paid automatically once Gaffer has confirmed the final table. Your official FPL team is untouched; you set both on the same morning.

How a USDC mini league works on Gaffer

1. Create the league. You can create a free Gaffer game for the Premier League today, or, where paid entry is available, a league with an entry fee and the prize split your group agreed. A paid league runs from the next gameweek to the end of the season; a free one can cover the rounds you choose.
2. Share one invite link. Every member creates an account, and a wallet is created for them at the same time. Nothing to install.
3. Each member deposits USDC. Send USDC on Starknet from Ready, Braavos, Xverse, an exchange or any wallet app, by address or QR code; from another chain, the wallet’s deposit options connect MetaMask, Phantom, Coinbase or any wallet and the transfer is bridged and swapped into Starknet USDC; a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay works when that option is open. USDC is a dollar-backed digital currency. USDC is designed to stay at one US dollar, so the prize pool is counted in dollars from the first deadline to the last.
4. Join and pay the entry. Each entry, minus the 5% service fee, is paid at the moment of joining into the league’s own vault. The fee and the prize split are on screen before anyone pays. Joining is a sponsored action from the wallet in the app, so no network fee comes out of the entry.
5. Pick a squad before the lock. Premier League lineups lock 15 minutes after the official FPL deadline; the deadline pages list every gameweek in UK time and in US Eastern time.
6. The winners are paid automatically. When the last round is final, Gaffer confirms the standings and, after a review period of at least 24 hours, the prize pool is paid automatically to the winners’ wallets. Nobody holds the pool, not the commissioner and not Gaffer. The commissioner can never move the pool. Gaffer confirms the final standings and triggers the payout; the vault can only pay members of that league or return their entries.

Same football, Gaffer squads

Classic on Gaffer uses the familiar 15-player, £100m format, with prices that mirror the verified FPL dataset, transfers between rounds and a captain who scores double. Two things differ and are published: Gaffer Bonus uses its own formula instead of the official bonus system, and the lock is 15 minutes after the official deadline. The Classic rules have every threshold. Because every Gaffer league has its own squad, you can run a different team in each league you join; Can you have two FPL teams? explains the difference from the official one-team rule.

What to agree with your group before anyone pays

• The entry and the split. A round number, and the split shown to everyone before the first payment. The prize split calculator shows every place for your entry and head count.
• An illustrative example. 12 entries of $10 make $120 before any fee, and a 50 / 30 / 20 split pays $60, $36, $24. On Gaffer the 5% service fee comes off each entry at joining, so the prize pool is the rest.
• Dropouts. Leaving before the lock returns the entry minus the 5% service fee; after the lock a member cannot leave with a refund.
• A cup on the side. A free Weekly Cup can run alongside the league for the rounds your group cares about most; the cup has no entry fee. Gaffer games explained covers the formats, and prize ideas what groups play for.

Where paid entry is available, and taxes

Paid entry is for players 18 and over (or the age of majority where you live, if higher) in supported locations. It is not available in some US states and Canadian provinces or in a short list of countries, including those under comprehensive sanctions; the terms list them, and the location check runs when you create or join a paid league. Prizes may be taxable income where you live; keep the record of entries and payouts and ask a tax adviser about your own situation. This guide is about season-long leagues, the format a group of friends normally runs; weekly paid play is treated differently in many places. Nothing here is an offer to anyone in a place where paid entry is not available: a free league is open to everyone.