Turkey’s largest bitcoin exchange, BtcTurk, recently collaborated with a Turkish football club, Yeni Malatyaspor. According to the contract, the bitcoin exchange platform would be the club’s sponsor in the ongoing 2019–2020 Süper Lig Cemil Usta Season, during which the club would play using the name “BtcTurk Yeni Malatyaspor”.
This is not the first time a crypt-sport collaboration is happening, which indicates a growing acceptance within the sports industry and beyond.
Turkish Professional Football Team Nicks Bitcoin Sponsorship Deal
Redditor “onurgozupek” revealed the news of the partnership in a post published on the Bitcoin sureddit on Monday (September 2, 2019).
Based on the sponsorship deal, BtcTurk’s logo would appear on the club’s jersey. The Partnership is significant, as this marks the first time a bitcoin exchange platform is sponsoring a professional football club’s jersey.
Commenting on the milestone achieved by the bitcoin exchange platform, Özgür Güneri, CEO of BtcTurk, said:
“And now, we are excited to make another breakthrough in our country and in the world, bringing Yeni Malatyaspor, one of the successful clubs in Turkey Super League and BtcTurk together. We believe in the future of Turkish sports and football and aim to invest more in the forthcoming years.”
The CEO added that the partnership would encourage greater adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Turkey. Furthermore, the involvement of the club would help create awareness for BtcTurk and bitcoin in the Turkish football league.
Adil Gevrek, who is the president of the BtcTurk Yeni Malatyaspor football club, also commented on the sponsorship deal. According to Gevrek, associating with Turkey’s largest bitcoin exchange platform would be beneficial for the club and for Turkish football.
Sports Franchises Adopting Cryptocurrency
The cryptocurrency industry seems to get an appreciable degree of support from the sports industry. Over time, there has been news of cryptocurrency and blockchain platforms partnering with some of the biggest names in the sports industry. However, football and basketball top the list of sports teams to adopt cryptocurrency.
American football team, Miami Dolphins, adopted litecoin (LTC), as the club’s official cryptocurrency, enabling fans to buy tickets using bitcoin and litecoin.
Also, the NBA 2k league of the professional basketball team, Cleveland Cavalier, Cavs Legion, teamed up with cryptocurrency platform, UnitedCoin, with UnitedCoin becoming the league’s official cryptocurrency partner.
One of the biggest football clubs, Juventus, collaborated with Socios.com, a blockchain-based engagement platform, to launch its own fan token,
In August 2018, history was made in football, as Rimini, an Italian football club became the first football team in the world to be acquired with bitcoin. Earlier, American basketball team, Sacramento Kings, became the first basketball team to mine ethereum. The team was reportedly the first in the sports industry to accept bitcoin.
Bitcoin Increasingly Popular in Turkey Amid Economic Instability
Turkey is generally considered a crypto-friendly country, whose citizens are open to new technology. The country’s national, plummeted in 2018, making bitcoin and other virtual currencies a favorable option for the Turks.
According to a poll conducted by Dutch social media platform, ING News on February 2019, and shared by CoinShares’ executive, Meltem Demirors, Turkish citizens are the highest owners of virtual currency in all of Europe.
As with many other regulatory bodies and governments globally, the Turkish government warned citizens about the risks associated with bitcoin. However, there is no regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and blockchain.
The case of Turks turning to bitcoin in the midst of a financial crisis is not a peculiar one. Countries like Venezuela, and Argentina, also face similar financial woes, and these regions turn to cryptocurrency for relief.
Recently, CEO of hedge fund, Arca, Rayne Steinberg, said that jurisdictions with economic and political crisis viewed bitcoin as a safe haven and last resort. Furthermore, Steinberg noted that locals affected jurisdictions like Argentina, Venezuela, Hong Kong, and Turkey, were buying bitcoin at a premium on cryptocurrency exchanges.