Crypto Corner: The Sports Slice

BitcoinistPublished on 2022-12-19Last updated on 2022-12-19

Abstract

One of the biggest stages in sports is approaching it's final match, as France and Argentina are set to face...

One of the biggest stages in sports is approaching it’s final match, as France and Argentina are set to face off in a storyline matchup on Sunday. Argentinian Lionel Messi sets to bring home his first World Cup championship despite a storied career, but will need to overcome a powerful France squad that has given up just a single goal throughout the tournament.
Meanwhile, crypto partnerships in sport seem to have a damper on them that hasn’t been seen since pre-2021 bull run, before big dollar spending in sport sponsorship was nearly as prominent as it is today.
As the market has cooled, so too have the sports deals. Let’s take a look at the activity across sports and crypto over the past week.
The Sports Slice
Tezos is seemingly no longer a partner of Red Bull Racing, according to a SportsPro report this week. While little has come to light around the partnership, the blockchain is no longer listed on the racing team’s website, and Tezos branding – which was previously boasted across the F1 vehicle – was noticeably absent at a recent showing.
While SportsPro innocently compares the sudden seemingly terminated deal to that of Mercedes’ and FTX, a blockchain is substantially different than a centralized exchange. Nonetheless, the deal likely signals a risk-mitigation tactic from the racing club to reduce crypto exposure (as they also have an existing partnership with exchange Bybit).
Other variables could certainly be at play, but to suggest anything more would be pure unsubstantiated speculation.







Tezos (XTZ) is seemingly no longer a partner of Red Bull Racing. | Source: XTZ-USD on TradingView.com
Bear Market Move Aside: Decentralized Sports Betting Firm Raises Nearly $5M
Frontrunner, a decentralized sports betting platform, has raised $4.75M in it’s latest capital funding round, led by Susquehanna Private Equity Investments this past week.
Speculative gambling markets and crypto degens go hand-in-hand. Frontrunner has found success through a slick UI that positions gambling odds in easy-to-digest fashion, while offering lines across some of the biggest sports leagues on the globe.
Frontrunner is built on COSMOS and just launched it’s testnet in Q3, with cross-chain ambitions. In an interview with TechCrunch, Frontrunner CEO Neil Zhang spoke directly to this element:
“The majority of our competitors thus far are in the Solana ecosystem. But we have really had more of a multi chain type vision of the long term vision of our products. And so we’ve chosen first to be in the cosmos ecosystem, which we are really bullish on in terms of the interchain operability and some of the multi chain technologies that are being built there.”
Shaq Is The Latest To Face Criticism Over FTX Ambassadorship
NBA Hall of Fame icon Shaquille O’Neal is known for his dominant career on the floor, and his business moves off the court.
“I’m all in,” he said about FTX in an advertisement. Hindsight can be 20/20, as O’Neal joined sports icons like Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Naomi Osaka and others in advocating for FTX earlier this year. Mainstream publications have taken hold to a clip of O’Neal saying that he “doesn’t really understand crypto” in recent months, despite appearing in promotional assets for FTX previously.
Regardless, it’s most likely that none of the stars knew any more than we did about FTX’s business standing until it all crumbled down; what’s most important is how they react moving forward.
Steph Curry, Serena Williams, And Others Cited In Bored Ape Lawsuit
A class-action lawsuit filed against prominent Bored Ape Yacht Club holders including NBA star Steph Curry and tennis legend Serena Williams has made headlines over the past week.
Two plaintiffs believe that BAYC creators Yuga Labs utilized athletes, entertainers and influencers to promote the NFT project without appropriate disclosures. The federal court filing states that:
“… the company’s entire business model relies on using insidious marketing and promotional activities from A-list celebrities that are highly compensated without disclosing such, to increase demand of the Yuga securities by convincing potential retail investors that the price of these digital assets would appreciate.”
It’s a difficult slate in particular for Curry, who was also named in an FTX class-action, and who is now sidelined with a shoulder injury that will likely hold him back from the upcoming Christmas Day slate of games – which is notoriously one of the biggest days of action each NBA season.

Related Reads

Stablecoin Salaries: Why Are They Becoming the First Choice for Cross-Border Workers?

Stablecoin Salaries: Why They're Becoming the Top Choice for Global Remote Workers The traditional global salary system carries hidden exchange rate risks for freelancers in countries like India, Argentina, and Turkey who earn in USD but spend in local currencies. When salaries are instantly converted to local currency, workers lose purchasing power if that currency depreciates against the dollar. For instance, an Indian designer converting a $2000 monthly salary to rupees lost over 10% in purchasing power last year due to the rupee's decline. Holding even a portion of income in USD or USD-pegged stablecoins can preserve value. Stablecoins offer a solution by breaking down barriers to holding dollars. Opening foreign USD bank accounts is difficult, and international wire transfers incur high fees (averaging 6.5%) and delays. In contrast, stablecoin transfers are fast and low-cost. Furthermore, many countries with high inflation and depreciating currencies restrict citizens' access to foreign currency. Self-custody stablecoin wallets enable workers to hold dollar-equivalent assets without needing bank approval, bypassing these limits. These wallets integrate multiple functions: they allow users to convert only what's needed for daily expenses into local currency, keep the remainder in stablecoins, connect to on-chain lending or yield products, and even link to payment cards for direct spending. While challenges remain—such as the lack of deposit insurance and evolving regulatory frameworks—the trend is clear. Reports indicate a growing preference for USD or stablecoin payments among freelancers in high-inflation countries. This shift represents a fundamental restructuring of salary functions: payment currency, asset storage, yield generation, spending, and cross-border flow. It offers the freedom and flexibility that are core to money's purpose, signaling a profound change in the global financial landscape.

Foresight News4m ago

Stablecoin Salaries: Why Are They Becoming the First Choice for Cross-Border Workers?

Foresight News4m ago

Don't Just Focus on Layoffs, The New Structure of the Ethereum Foundation is More Worthy of Appreciation

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has undergone a significant organizational restructuring, with the most notable change being a strategic refocusing of its priorities rather than just a 20% staff reduction (approximately 54 people). The new structure clearly prioritizes the Protocol and Access layers, which now comprise the largest teams (57 and 34 people, respectively). This signals EF's intent to concentrate its core resources on fundamental, hard-to-outsource aspects of Ethereum: protocol evolution, security, privacy, client development, and the foundational access layer. Key areas within the Protocol layer, led by an architecture group including Vitalik Buterin and Justin Drake, receive heightened emphasis. These include post-quantum security, zkEVM, formal verification, and long-term roadmap development ("Strawmap"). This reflects a shift towards tackling complex, interdependent challenges like scalability, privacy, and future-proofing the protocol, potentially moving from a pure "redundant security" multi-client model towards more specialized clients aided by AI-assisted formal verification. Financially, EF's budget is being reduced by approximately 40%. The goal is to transition from spending about 15% of its remaining funds annually to a more sustainable 5% rate, akin to a long-term endowment, ensuring its longevity. Concurrently, the restructuring involves pushing certain responsibilities—such as application development, adoption, and ecosystem coordination—to external organizations like EthLabs, the Ethereum Apps Guild, and others. This "multi-node" model aims to increase ecosystem resilience by decentralizing functions beyond the EF, though it introduces new coordination challenges. In essence, the reorganization represents EF consciously narrowing its scope to focus on the hardest, most critical protocol-level problems while fostering a more distributed and sustainable ecosystem structure for Ethereum's future growth.

Foresight News32m ago

Don't Just Focus on Layoffs, The New Structure of the Ethereum Foundation is More Worthy of Appreciation

Foresight News32m ago

Report Analysis: What Is Coherent Planning as CPO Booms?

Title: Report Interpretation: What Moves Is Coherent Making Amid the CPO Boom? Summary: JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee reiterates an Overweight rating on Coherent (COHR), citing undervalued growth potential across three core areas: data center optical transceivers, co-packaged optics (CPO) chips, and industrial lasers/thermal management. COHR's 1.6T data center transceivers are in high demand, with pricing remaining firm. The rise of CPO is seen not as a threat but as a catalyst, creating higher demand for sophisticated optical components, an area where COHR holds a competitive edge with its comprehensive portfolio (lasers, isolators, VCSELs, thermoelectric coolers). Each CPO chip offers significantly greater revenue potential than traditional transceivers. Furthermore, its Optical Circuit Switch (OCS) technology targets a potential $4B market with reliability and power advantages. The company is expanding its InP (Indium Phosphide) device capacity fourfold within two years, securing substrate supply and transitioning to more cost-effective 6-inch wafers. As one of only two major suppliers of high-quality pump lasers—currently in severe shortage—COHR can now move up the value chain from components to complete line cards/systems, boosting ASP over tenfold. Gross margin targets (>42%) may be revised upward due to high-end product premiums, cost improvements from the wafer transition, and contributions from new high-margin products like CPO and OCS. Its efficient thermadite thermal material also offers long-term growth. Industrial segment revenue grows at a steady 5-10%, supported by semiconductor equipment orders. Changes in Apple's Face ID protocol present a re-competition opportunity for 3D sensing. Overall, Coherent is positioned as a key infrastructure provider, with AI-driven compute demand fueling the need for high-speed optical interconnectivity. Growth from CPO/OCS, stable industrial performance, and margin improvement support the bullish thesis. *Disclaimer: This summary interprets a third-party analyst report from JP Morgan. It does not constitute investment advice.*

marsbit54m ago

Report Analysis: What Is Coherent Planning as CPO Booms?

marsbit54m ago

Dan Koe's New Article: Escape the Fate of the Wage Slave, How to Survive in the Tide of AI Replacement?

Dan Koe's article argues that the real threat in the AI era is not technology itself, but financial dependency on employers. He critiques the "wage slavery" of unfulfilling work and identifies five core skills for resilience: agency, taste, persuasion, persistence, and iteration. These are developed not by consuming content, but by starting your own venture. The key to escaping the "employee mindset" is a radical identity shift. This requires: 1) Drastically changing your environment and daily inputs, 2) Choosing a creative medium (like content or code) that provides real-world feedback through trial and error, and 3) Using that feedback to learn and adapt. Koe strongly advocates for content creation over coding for beginners, as it builds irreplaceable subjective taste and audience connection. The practical starting point is a 15-minute self-inquiry to define your "life's work." Answer: What do you know deeply? What innate abilities do you have? What childhood interests were suppressed? Then, identify your contrarian beliefs—what does the mainstream get wrong in your area? The overlap is your unique direction. The final, non-negotiable step is to publish your first piece of content tomorrow. Embrace that it will be bad; the goal is to enter the feedback loop of creation, learning, and iteration, which is the true path to independence.

marsbit1h ago

Dan Koe's New Article: Escape the Fate of the Wage Slave, How to Survive in the Tide of AI Replacement?

marsbit1h ago

After Laying Off 20% of Staff, What Are the Key Points of EF's New Structure?

Following the completion of a months-long organizational restructuring, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) announced a 20% workforce reduction (approximately 54 employees) on June 23rd. It reorganized its teams into five new core clusters: Protocol, Access, User, Community, and Institutional (plus Operations/Management support units). Officially, this move implements the EF's 2026 Mandate and 2025 Treasury Management Policy, aiming to create a more focused and "self-sovereign" organization. The restructuring prioritizes the CROPS principles—Censorship Resistance, Openness & Freedom, Privacy, and Security—as foundational organizational tenets. The Protocol cluster will focus on core protocol R&D, including MEV reduction and zkEVM. The Access cluster emphasizes preserving user "zero option" for non-custodial, permissionless interaction. The User, Community, and Institutional clusters will manage external engagement, with the latter handling institutional and regulatory matters. While offering enhanced severance and transition support for affected employees, the EF did not disclose budget allocations or specific KPIs for the new clusters. This has led to market uncertainty about the impact on project funding and development priorities. Analysts note the announcement's positive tone of mission focus contrasts with a backdrop of recent EF leadership changes and broader ecosystem pressures. The true impact—whether this signifies strategic realignment or reactive contraction—will become clearer as the new structure's resource allocation and project prioritization are revealed in the coming months.

marsbit1h ago

After Laying Off 20% of Staff, What Are the Key Points of EF's New Structure?

marsbit1h ago

Trading

Spot
Futures
活动图片