The foundation stated in the statement that it became the “official cryptocurrency partner” of the UFC light heavyweight struggle between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.
The Litecoin Foundation stated that the sponsorship is part of its effort to expand the adoption of digital currencies, saying:
“With brands and institutions continuing to push into cryptocurrency and blockchain, this is yet another signal of this technology moving closer towards the mainstream.”
Litecoin (LTC) was released in 2011 by Charlie Lee, former Coinbase engineering manager. The coin is a working currency with a limited supply of LTC 84 000 000. Litecoin is not managed centrally, but the Litecoin Foundation builds its network. Lee is also the foundation’s managing director.
According to market research and intelligence firm Business Research Company, the global sports market was valued at around $557 billion in 2017, while North America was the largest sports market region of the year with a market share of 33 per cent. The raising of funds through sponsorship is supposed to attract new sponsors to the market with the gradual expansion of cryptocurrency support to date.
In December, the Brazilian leading football club Atletico Mineiro launched a fan token dubbed “GaloCoin” based on Footcoin— a platform for making Ethereum blockchain utility tokens. The token of Atletico will allow fans to buy game tickets, official equipment and participate in discount programs.
In September, the French Paris Saint-Germain football club (PSG) partnered with the Socios.com blockchain platform to launch a token ecosystem.
The token will enable the club to launch a fan token offer (FTO) which gives fans access to branded Saint German tokens. The tokens are entitled to vote and can also give their holders VIP status and/or rewards.
In June, Binance, arguably the world’s largest crypto exchange, made an undisclosed investment in the blockchain voting platform chiliZ.