Socios, the blockchain-based platform that has tokenized many sports franchises worldwide, has partnered with the National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers. In a Monday announcement via blockchain-based sports platform Chiliz, Socios said the Cavaliers’ practice jerseys would prominently feature its logo this upcoming season, scheduled to begin later in the year. The platform also said it was currently in the review and development phase on “fan engagement elements” for the team, potentially referring to tokens or digital collectibles. “This is the start of an exciting partnership that we believe can eventually lead to greatly enhanced fan engagement for fans of the …

Crypto Twitter was united in amusement today when the hashtag #eth began to automatically show the Ethiopian flag as the Ethereum 'logo'. Given Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s love of Bitcoin and the fact Bitcoin has its own Twitter icon many wondered if Dorsey was subtly trolling Ethereum (ETH). After all he’s a staunch Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist that has refused to consider buying into ETH and other altcoins on multiple occasions and has repeatedly stated that Bitcoin will become the internet’s native currency. The Twitter and Square founder certainly saw the funny side of it, Tweeting “#eth” which drew the attention …

Tyson Fury’s first venture into the NFT market resulted in a single NFT selling for almost $1 million on HoDooi.com — a new platform aiming to become the 'eBay of NFTs'. The auction for ‘Lineal by Tyson Fury’ closed on July 16, and represents one of the top athlete-themed sales in the market to date. The NFT depicts a tokenized illustration of Fury with two championship belts over each shoulder and a crown featuring his nickname “Gypsy King” on the front. The NFT includes real-world bonuses such as a signed five-by-five foot painting of the artwork, signed boxing gloves, and …

Three United States senators have signed a letter urging Olympic officials to forbid American athletes from using the digital yuan during the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. In a Monday letter to U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee board chair Susanne Lyons, Republican senators Marsha Blackburn, Roger Wicker and Cynthia Lummis requested officials prevent U.S. athletes from using or accepting digital yuan, given their allegation that it can be "tracked and traced" by the People’s Bank of China, or PBoC. The three claimed that the Chinese Communist Party could use the digital currency to surveil visiting athletes and upon their return to …

English Premier League stalwart Arsenal F.C. is launching a new fan token in partnership with Socios, giving its supporters the ability to influence club decisions and access team-related content. The partnership makes Socios the main digital meeting place for Arsenal’s fanbase, according to a Monday announcement from Chiliz, the exclusive blockchain of the Socios platform. By holding AFC Fan Tokens, Arsenal fans will have “countless engagement opportunities” with the club, Chiliz said, including “the chance to influence the club in a series of interactive polls across a variety of decisions every season.” No timetable was given for the launch of …

Argentina’s top pro-soccer league is getting a rebrand after it secured a new sponsorship deal with Chiliz, the creators of fan tokens and the Socios.com blockchain rewards app. According to a July 15 announcement from Socios, the partnership with the Argentina Football Association (AFA) will see the Primera Division renamed as Torneo Socios.com for the 2021/2022 season, with Torneo meaning “tournament” Spanish. A league of our own. We are incredibly proud to announce that for the 2021/22 season, Argentina's Primera División will be renamed Torneo https://t.co/2FROhT4RnG.@LigaAFA ⚡️ $CHZ pic.twitter.com/oLutukdtI3 — Socios.com (@socios) July 15, 2021 Torneo Socios.com was founded in …

Reports have surfaced that French NFT-based soccer trading card game developer Sorare is closing in on a $532 million funding round with a valuation of at least $3.8 billion. According to unnamed sources in Business Insider, the latest funding round is expected to be led by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank, along with participation from European venture capital firm Atomico. Other backers thought to be in the mix include European investment firm Eurazeo, and Blisce, a fund founded by French entrepreneur Alexandre Mars. Sorare was founded in 2018 and the firm’s NFT-based soccer collectible card game now has 142 licensed teams …

NFL star Saquon Barkley has revealed that he will be converting all of his endorsement money into Bitcoin (BTC). Barkley was the 2018 NFL offensive rookie of the year and plays as a running back for the New York Giants — a team that is also sponsored by Grayscale. The 24-year-old explained the rationale for the move earlier today during an appearance on “The Best Business Show,” hosted by Bitcoin proponent and Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano. He noted that his research on inflation is what drove his interest in Bitcoin: "We're seeing inflation and we're learning you can't …

American Express (Amex) has teamed up with popular neo-soul singer and songwriter SZA to enter the nonfungible token (NFT) market. The duo partnered to drop a set of 14 one-of-one edition NFTs, dubbed “Amex Unstaged x SZA: The Collection,” that depict moments from one of SZA’s recent concerts. Participation in the NFT sale was made available only to Amex users, with the first 10 dropped on Monday, and concert-goer's were given exclusive access. The remaining four were dropped earlier today and were made available to all Amex users. Each NFT was priced at $100 and all were sold out within …

The date is set. July 11 is when soccer fans all over the world can, for a period of at least 90 minutes, forget all about what’s wrong with the outside world and finally get to witness who will be the winner of one of the most widely viewed sports in the world. England and Italy will compete for the honor to win the coveted UEFA European Football Championship 2020, or Euro 2020, trophy, which only comes around once every two years. Here is a little thought experiment for all the casual soccer fans out there: Try to think of …

Socios, the blockchain-based platform responsible for tokenizing many popular sports franchises, has said the Boston Celtics basketball team will be joining its roster. In a Wednesday announcement from the National Basketball Association, Socios said it will have a significant presence on the Celtics’ website. Though the platform did not specifically mention it would be tokenizing players for digital collectibles, it will be using Celtics’ logos for international marketing. Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Socios and blockchain-based sports platform Chiliz, said this partnership with an NBA team could lead to “enhanced fan engagement for fans of the Celtics,” perhaps hinting basketball fans …

Ultimate Fighting Championship, a major global mixed martial arts organization, continues its deep dive into the cryptocurrency industry by announcing a sponsorship deal with a cryptocurrency exchange. UFC announced Wednesday that it agreed to a fight-kit partnership with Crypto.com, one of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms by trading volumes, CNBC reported. According to CNBC, the sponsorship is worth $175 million and will last over 10 years. As part of the agreement, Crypto.com’s brand will appear on fight kit items worn by athletes during competition as well as clothing worn by the training staff. Additionally, Crypto.com has acquired the rights …