Crypto trading platform Bybit partners with soccer club Borussia Dortmund

Top-tier German soccer club Borussia Dortmund, or BVB, is entering a multi-year partnership with the crypto trading platform Bybit.

At present, details of what the partnership will involve, beyond mutual brand outreach, remain slight. In a statement for Cointelegraph, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou pointed to BVB's huge popularity, characterizing its fan base as the seventh-largest in the world. He said: 

"With the partnership, Bybit intends to increase its global reach and branding, as the Bybit logo and slogans will be presented virtually on BVB's matches, their websites and social platforms."

A forthcoming high-profile match with Bayern Munich, in which the clubs will be competing for first place in the Bundesliga, will provide Bybit with its first whirl of logo and slogan outreach. Bayern Munich, as of fall 2019, has already made its own inroads into blockchain-based merchandise to boost fan engagement.

Many highly successful international soccer clubs have already ventured into the crypto space, usually within the framework of fan token offerings or blockchain-based fantasy soccer and tokenized digital collectibles. Zhou said:

“In the near future we hope to be able share news of a BVB fan token, however for the moment we cannot share any specific details." 

Zhou added that ByBit is aware that "BVB and Liquiditeam have been working on a fan token initiative," and said that as the club's partner "we are eager to see it materialize, and would love to be of help in bringing it to the world.”

Whichever form the partnership between Bybit and BVB eventually takes, the popularity of nonfungible tokens to create digital collectibles or gaming perks for global sports fans has already proved competitive, as compared with other applications of blockchain technology. 

Crypto and sports partnerships are fast becoming a global phenomenon, drawing in clubs from Italy to Japan, the Russian Federation, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.