Web Summit 2021, the biggest tech conference in the world, kicked off on Monday in Lisbon, Portugal, and will last until Nov. 4, 2021. In an opening statement, Carlos Moedas, the Mayor of Lisbon, said that "My dream is that Lisbon will be the capital of innovation in the world." Meanwhile, João Leão, the Minister of Finance of Portugal, stated: "Portugal is the country people come to invest, to do business and to look live, and to do so in a manner that is open to different cultures." Notable guest speakers included Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, Black Lives Matter co-founder …

A Dallas Mavericks fan won $100,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) after making a series of shots in a National Basketball Association (NBA) shootout event sponsored by crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital. Isaiah Stone, the winner of the basketball shootout, completed all stages of the challenge that included a free throw, a three-pointer and a half-court field goal. According to the Dallas Mavericks, the Voyager-sponsored prize money was the largest on-court promotion for the team. #MFFL, Isaiah Stone, just won the LARGEST cash prize ever hit for an on-court promotion on the Dallas Mavericks court‼️ He went home with $100k worth of …

Crypto trading platform Voyager Digital has inked a deal with the Dallas Mavericks basketball team aiming to make crypto more accessible through fan engagement and other educational programs. In an Oct. 27 announcement, Voyager Digital said it would become the Mavs first cryptocurrency brokerage and international partner in a five-year deal. The trading platform will also have naming rights over the franchise’s Mavs Gaming Hub in Dallas, a venue for the Mavs NBA 2K League team. "This partnership gives us the opportunity to educate people all over the world on ways to use crypto in their everyday lives,” said Voyager …

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has secured an advertisement spot in one of the most watched events in America — the championship game of the National Football League, to be held in Feb. 2022 According to a report in Bloomberg, FTX purchased an ad in this year’s Super Bowl LVI motivated by the wide reach of the audience. The Super Bowl is invariably the top rating TV program of the year, and accounts for 28 of the 30 highest rating broadcasts in U.S. TV history. Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX exchange, has made football one of the priorities within a …

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady nearly lost ownership of the ball behind his 600th touchdown pass, but now he’s paying for it… in Bitcoin. In an Oct. 24 game between the Buccaneers and Chicago Bears, Brady threw his 600th career touchdown pass to fellow teammate Mike Evans — he is the only player in NFL history to have ever achieved so many touchdown passes in his career. The wide receiver, apparently not realizing the significance of the ball, handed it off to Byron Kennedy, a fan wearing a jersey with Evans’ namesake. According to Ken Goldin, the founder of …

Dapper Labs, the firm behind NBA Top Shot, said that pro sports leagues are no longer resistant to exploring nonfungible tokens (NFTs) now that the sector is hot. Speaking at Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit on Oct. 25, Dapper Labs’ head of partnerships, Caty Tedman, said that the stance of professional sporting organisations suddenly shifted regarding NFTs amid the sector’s booming growth in early 2021, stating: "The conversation has shifted dramatically, where I think there's a little bit of an understanding that there's something here. I meet very little resistance these days that NFTs are a thing." Dapper emerged as …

Major cryptocurrency exchange FTX gave $500 in crypto to every spectator sitting in one section of the FTX Arena at Thursday’s Miami Heat season opener game against the Milwaukee Bucks. As well as the crypto giveaway, every fan in the stadium received a T-shirt with a QR code giving access to an exclusive ‘Opening Night FTX Arena NFT’. Free NFT-shirt? Say no more! All @MiamiHEAT fans in attendance at tonight’s game will receive a free “You In, Miami?” t-shirt! By scanning the QR code on the back, they’ll unlock this free, limited edition FTX Arena NFT. The future is here. …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has inked a deal with the National Basketball Association, giving the platform the opportunity to educate basketball fans on crypto. In a Tuesday announcement, Coinbase said it would become the exclusive cryptocurrency platform partner of the National Basketball Association, or NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and USA Basketball as part of a multiyear sponsorship deal. According to the NBA, Coinbase will create “unique content, innovations, activations and experiences” for basketball fans to learn about the crypto space, as well as be a partner of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, the USA …

Trade volume for NBA Top Shot’s nonfungible tokens (NFT) has skyrocketed over the weekend following the launch of its retro “Run It Back 2005-06” packs on Friday. According to Crypto Slam, daily volume on NBA Top Shot’s marketplace jumped by more than 440% from $829,520 on Thursday to more than $4.5 million the next day. Saturday also saw more than $4 million worth of tokens trade hands. NBA Top Shot’s NFTs feature video highlights depicting key moments from the history of professional basketball, with the latest packs celebrating the stars of the 2005–2006 season. On Sunday, NBA Top Shot tweeted …

Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, have been a revolutionary force in the crypto, arts and sports industries, not only because of the financial liberation successful projects offer to creators but also their ability to bring art lovers closer to creators and bring athletes closer to their fans. Prior to 2021 — and a few blockbuster sales from Beeple — NFT-based art was relatively obscure. And while OpenSea was in existence, the massive trading volumes seen in the last six months were unimaginable. The success of Dapper Labs’ NBA TopShot NFTs proved that digital collectibles have wide-ranging appeal, and to date, more …

The Gambling Commission in the United Kingdom has opened an inquiry into Sorare, a popular nonfungible token (NFT) fantasy soccer game that raised $680M in a funding round last month “The Gambling Commission is currently carrying out enquiries into the company to establish whether Sorare.com requires an operating license or whether the services it provides do not constitute gambling.” However, Sorare — which closed a $680 million funding round for its NFT trading card platform in September — denied it was involved in anything approaching “regulated gambling”. “We are very confident Sorare does not offer any forms of regulated gambling. …

Following a $680-million funding round, nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Sorare is looking to be an active player in bridging the gap between sports and digital entertainment. Now valued at $4.3 billion, Sorare told Cointelegraph that the company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its business with new hires and partnerships, as well as support community-led programs. Besides working with community-led football programs aimed at helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and backing underprivileged entrepreneurs in sports and gaming, Sorare CEO Nicolas Julia explained via email that the NFT unicorn would also support female representation in sports. He said: …