Crypto.com's native cryptocurrency CRO hit an all-time high of $0.593 on Nov. 18 after the company won the naming rights to Los Angeles's Staples Center. The cryptocurrency trading platform announced Tuesday night that it had paid $700 million to the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to rename Staples Center to Crypto.com for the next twenty years. In doing so, it gained links with the downtown arena's native sports franchises, including NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, and National Hockey League's Kings franchise. The deal should boost Crypto.com's public awareness, and this prompted traders to raise their bids for CRO, an intermediary settlement …

Sorare, a marketplace for nonfungible token (NFT) trading cards, has raised $680 million in a Series B funding round led by Japanese fintech giant SoftBank, resulting in a revised valuation of $4.3 billion for the platform. According to the company, the latest funding will help expand Sorare’s portfolio of football player NFTs by partnering with more football leagues and associations. In early September, the French NFT-based trading platform secured its first soccer league partnership with La Liga in addition to having NFT collaborations with Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and other top-tier soccer teams. Sorare also plans to diversify its NFT-based portfolio …

Nonfungible token (NFT) games combine both traditional gaming designs with unconventional game mechanisms. With these features, users gain additional control over their in-game assets like virtual property, characters and more -- a possibility due to each of these digital assets being an NFT. Leveraging NFTs gives players the ability to prove each asset’s rarity and uniqueness. Along with the rise of NFTs is the play-to-earn movement -- an emerging trend in the gaming industry where players can collect NFT rewards and convert them into real cash as they rise in value. With this system, each user can claim ownership of …

Bybit has secured new contracts with esports organizations Astralis and Alliance that will see the cryptocurrency exchange expand its footprint in the video game industry. Bybit will have its logo featured on gaming jerseys and twitch.tv streams as part of a broader strategic initiative targeting more expansive player engagements, carbon neutrality initiatives and financial education programs, the exchange announced Monday. Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, said his company “is in it for the long run,” referring to esports. He believes there is a “special connection” between the esports and cryptocurrency communities for their high degree of competitiveness and …

FTX is launching a nonfungible token (NFT) platform centered on sports and entertainment and has also stitched up a new sponsorship with professional esports league the League Championship Series LCS. According to Variety, FTX US is teaming up with Dolphin Entertainment to create a “large scale” NFT marketplace that will target brands within the sports, entertainment, gaming, esports and charity industries to name a few. We're beyond excited to team up with Dolphin Entertainment to create an NFT marketplace for major sports and entertainment brands—including film, television, music, gaming, eSports, culinary, lifestyle and charity industries. Dolphin Entertainment FTXhttps://t.co/RgKXuWfViF — FTX …

A decentralized sharing economy protocol is championing two new projects that are part of its ever-growing ecosystem. TimeCoinProtocol offers an environment where DApps can be built that bring people closer together — and the company is also focused on rolling out services that tap into current trends. One of its new projects is GameTomodachi, which enables enthusiastic gamers to find new players to share their passion with. Not only does this ecosystem offer a powerful way of making new friends, but it also gives users the chance to play games with top YouTubers, VTubers, and professional esports players. During each …

Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has become an official sponsor of Major League Baseball, setting the stage for broader mainstream recognition of digital assets. As part of the sponsorship deal, which is expected to last for at least five years, every Major League umpire will receive an FTX patch on their uniform, FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted Wednesday. Over time, the agreement is expected to evolve to include collaboration on the design of world-leading brands. “It's not the only partnership we were considering, but the enthusiasm and creativity of the MLB team made it the one we were excited …

Socios, the blockchain-based platform responsible for tokenizing many popular sports franchises, has said the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team will be joining its roster. In a Thursday announcement from Socios, the platform said as part of the partnership the 76ers, or the Sixers, will integrate branding from the fan token site across the physical and digital space. Socios will appear on screens in the team’s home venue, the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, as well as on its website and social media. Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Socios and blockchain-based sports platform Chiliz, said this was the first time the platform had …

With the Euro 2020 championship in progress, blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare has announced the licensing agreement for a national sports association to issue nonfungible tokens of its players. In an announcement today, Sorare said the France Football Federation, or FFF, had launched its own line of player nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, prior to the team’s match against Germany on Tuesday. The French National Team — often called “The Blues” for the color of their shirts — is currently competing in the 2020 Union of European Football Associations European Football Championship. The Euro 2020 tournament was postponed last year due …

FTX and global esports brand Team SoloMid, oTSM, have signed a multi-year partnership that grants exclusive naming rights to the crypto trading platform. According to a release issued on Friday, the deal is valued at $210 million with the esports brand’s name changing to “TSM FTX.” As part of the deal, TSM FTX will distribute crypto to players and employees with the newly repurposed esports company also purchasing $1 million worth of FTT — the native token of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Trading slightly above $34 as of the time of writing, a $1 million purchase of FTT would amount …

Gaming-focused venture capital fund Bitkraft Ventures has partnered with crypto industry research firm Delphi Digital in order to invest in related projects. The collaboration, announced on April 29, will allow Bitkraft to increase its focus on investments in firms that use blockchain technology in addition to crypto assets and economics. Bitkraft was founded in 2015 and has more than $400 million in assets under management with more than 50 investments in companies such as Epic Games, BitFry, and Fuze TV. In August 2020, the company raised $165 million to invest in digital gaming and e-sports and it is now betting …

An esports-focused site that uses a cutting-edge blockchain protocol to eliminate manipulation in video views has now launched non-fungible tokens. Esports Fight Club, which is owned by Verasity, says the NFTs on offer include posters, badges, weapons, mods and short videos that summarize top highlights from esports tournaments. All of them are built using Verasity’s proprietary and patented Proof-of-View protocol, which aims to eliminate fraud from the world of video monetization. Each NFT found on the platform is unique, with ownership validated through PoV. This gives users full control over their non-fungible tokens — enabling them to resell or distribute …