Monat: Dezember 2021

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has spent a bucket load of cash in sports deals across various leagues

Crypto exchange affliate FXT US has inked a new partnership with four different sports teams as per a Monday announcement from Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE). The leading sport and entertainment company based in Washington DC owns five professional teams in the city and manages the Capital One Arena, where its teams play.

Most notable is the deal with National Basketball Association’s team Washington Wizards. Also involved in the agreement are the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals, the Women NBA’s Washington Mystic, and the Capital City Go-Go basketball team. 

„The integration of blockchain technology with the sports experience has only just begun, and together we are going to advance to an entirely new frontier, which will ignite fans beyond what they can even imagine today,“ MSE president of business operations and chief commercial officer Jim Van Stone said.

Official NFT and cryptocurrency partner

FTX US will be the official cryptocurrency partner for the MSE and its properties, i.e. the four teams, as part of the multi-year deal. The MSE noted in the release that the exchange’s NFT platform also gets the exclusive rights to upcoming token drops by any of the four teams. The exchange will also be a partner for Big Block-Chain the entertainment company’s in-game highlight series. 

„One of our key goals is to continue growing the awareness of digital assets. We are excited to bring the world of crypto to Washington, DC sports fans,“ FTX.US VP of Business Development Avinash Dabir stated. 

The move is one of the exchange’s approaches of extending its presence in the US Capital and wooing legislators. The respective partnerships were completed at undisclosed sums, and other specific terms are yet to be released as of writing. 

FTX’s previous partnerships in sports

This year, the Bankman Fried–led exchange has secured in its basket several mega-deals with different teams as well as sports leagues. Just recently, the cryptocurrency exchange announced a sponsorship deal with the NBA team Golden State Warriors at a reported sum of $10 million. 

In June this year, the National Basketball Association announced that the exchange operator FTX had acquired the Miami Heat’s arena naming rights. The home of the Miami Heat was rebranded to FTX Arena until at least 2040 as part of a $135 million agreement with the NBA outfit.

A similar deal followed this in August, this time involving Cal’s football stadium. UC Berkeley and the US exchange affiliate agreed on a 10-year deal worth $17.5 million, with the latter securing naming rights and taking on other obligations.

The post FTX US seals four sports-crypto deals in Washington DC appeared first on Coin Journal.

The funding round comes a few days after the protocol rebranded from Anyswap

Newly-rebranded cross-chain protocol today wrapped up its seed round, raising $60 million. The funding featured several names, including Binance Labs, the venture capital subsidiary of cryptocurrency, and NFT marketplace Binance. 

Binance Labs investment director Peter Huo hailed Multichain, describing it as “a key contributor to the multi-chain future for crypto.”

Other venture capital firms that took part in the round include IDG Capital, Primitive Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, DeFiance Capital, and Circle Ventures. China-based capital market company Sequoia China also had a hand in the fundraising.

Multichain was launched mid-last year as a cross-chain decentralised platform called Anyswap. The project has since morphed into a cross-chain router protocol, officially taking the name Multichain last week. At the time of the announcement, the total value locked on the protocol was north of $5 billion. The protocol currently serves about 300,000 users, with this figure projected to continue growing.

Forging closer ties

It is worth noting that Binance’s input into the firm stretches beyond capital injection. The crypto exchange is looking to cultivate a good relationship with the protocol outside the investment. On Monday, the Binance Smart Chain promoted the cross-chain protocol as a recommended tool to move crypto-assets between blockchains.

The capital raised through the seed round will be directed toward developing the ecosystem and helping its teams see more growth through new hires. The firm specifically pinpointed the research and development teams as some of those that will benefit from the acquired funds.

Binance VC arm has incubated more than 100 projects

Binance Labs has made a number of moves to promote blockchain projects over the last few weeks. On November 23, the venture capital arm launched the third season of its incubation program. The program aims to support potential projects from various parts of the world. 

The nine (chosen from the latest edition of the Incubation Program) names involved in the program are play-to-earn game Block Ape Scissors, hedging protocol Tranching, decentralised oracle Bird, bridge protocol Raydius, gaming web GAT Network, Mint Club, DeFi farming protocol Copycat Finance, multi-chain stable swap project Wombat, and blockchain gaming studio SkyArk.

In a December 12th interview with CryptoPotato, Binance Labs director Chase Guo disclosed that the venture capital arm had supported more than 100 projects since it was launched about three years. Outside blockchain, the innovation incubation division spearheaded a $1.5 million seed round for decentralized Web3.0 public network Bulletin Board System (BBS) at the beginning of December. It also joined the League of Kingdoms table as a strategic investor at the end of last week. 

The post Multichain closes $60 million seed round with participation from Binance Labs appeared first on Coin Journal.