Seven English Premier League football clubs have entered into a partnership with eToro. The Israeli-based investment firm which has a global appeal and which deals with a variety of assets has agreed to facilitate Bitcoin payments by seven English Premier League clubs to their players.
In the deal, the football clubs will set up a digital wallet with eToro. The players of the seven clubs will receive payments in BTC through the eToro wallets. The clubs in this deal which was reached at with the help of SportsQuake include Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, Crystal City, Cardiff City, Newcastle United, and Brighton and Hove Albion Football clubs. SportsQuake is a sports marketing agency.
In this deal, customers of eToro who reside in the United States will access cryptocurrencies for the first time.
The details of the partnership
The news was first shared by Iqbal V. Gandham, who is the MD of eToro UK, who posted a tweet on the company’s official handle. Blockchain technology can improve the overall experience for all those who love this ‘beautiful game’, he wrote.
In the official press release, eToro said that this partnership is a major milestone in the usage and adoption of digital assets in the football industry. The usage of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in the sports world will go a long way toward helping solve issues such as ‘ticket touting’ and ‘transparency’. This move will also help in guaranteeing the authenticity of merchandise.
The deal will boast eToro’s visibility internationally through various marketing channels which include matchday LED boards, digital rights, and player access.
It is worth noting that eToro has a been a pioneer in the industry for some years now. In 2017, for example, it announced that its customers could buy or sell cryptos such as Ripple, Dash, Ether, and Litecoin on its platform.
Earlier in 2018, the investment-only firm said it was launching a crypto exchange which will come with a wallet service.
What the MD said
In a statement, Gandham observed that eToro which is an international multi-media platform which enables a person to trade the world’s biggest cryptos alongside major financial instruments is very excited to be signing the new deal with the English football clubs. According to Gandham, this deal made history because eToro was the first company to pay for a Premier League deal using Bitcoin.
According to Mr. Gandham, this partnership serves as the first step in a long road where football stakeholders will embrace blockchain technology, hopefully. He further observed that education will play a major role in letting industries understand the true and full potential of blockchain technology. The partnership will help eToro gain even more international exposure and also help it in raising this technology’s awareness.