TRON founder Justin Sun has announced that basketball player Kobe Bryant will attend TRON’s blockchain conference next year. Sun describes Bryant as an “investment genius,” and he’s giving the NBA player a chance to discuss his life experiences and business insights with attendees at the summit next January.
Sun is hoping Bryant can inspire people to potentially examine themselves and what they can do to make their lives better physically, emotionally, and financially. When describing Bryant, he said:
“I have been a huge fan of Kobe and deeply inspired by his journey. It’s my great honor to have Kobe as our special guest for the niTROn Summit. It’s worth mentioning that Kobe Bryant is not only a basketball genius, but also an investment genius. We look forward to hearing his great speeches at the summit.”
Do Celebs Really Influence People’s Opinions?
Celebrities have often made careers for themselves by stepping into arenas in which they don’t belong. Perhaps politics is the biggest one, and many Americans freely admit that celebrity endorsements for specific political agendas or candidates have little to no bearing on their choices. In fact, many say that celebrity interference makes them angry.
Read: Celebrities Shilling for Cryptocurrency
Clear examples of this were offered during the United States’ previous mid-term election in early November. Award-winning singer and instrumentalist Taylor Swift – who had remained relatively silent when it came to politics – finally made the decision to get involved by producing music videos that endorsed senatorial democratic candidate Phil Bredesen in her home state of Tennessee.
Swift’s efforts proved ultimately fruitless, however, as Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn took the seat in an easy win, garnering a hugely important position for the GOP.
Past Examples of Celebrity Failures
The same scenario was witnessed in Georgia. Former talk show host and business woman Oprah Winfrey went around knocking on doors telling residents to vote for her preferred candidate Stacey Abrams, the democratic contender for the state’s governorship. Oprah was unable to convince native Georgians of Abrams’ ability to lead the state, as the position was ultimately won by Republican Brian Kemp.
The cryptocurrency arena appears to house the same circumstances. For the most part, celebrity endorsements don’t seem to go anywhere. Remember Floyd Mayweather Jr. and DJ Khaled? Both men found themselves in contracts to support Centra Tech, a company that sold products relating to digital currency.
Read: Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled Sued Over Alleged Cryptocurrency Scam
Khaled and Mayweather served as the celebrity faces for the company, though now, both figures have found themselves the subjects of lawsuits after the company’s owners were arrested for allegedly running a potential cryptocurrency scam.
And the List Goes On
Recently, former President Bill Clinton spoke at Ripple’s annual Swell conference. The two-term leader suddenly found himself the primary subject of Twitter memes, in which users expressed their distaste that someone with a known history of sexual harassment and womanizing – and with no clear connections to blockchain technology or digital assets – was suddenly the event’s primary speechmaker.
This isn’t to say that Kobe Bryant can’t do great things for TRON users. He has, after all, developed a reputation for relatively lucrative investing. For example, the athlete recently turned $6 million into $200 million after Coca-Cola bought a minority stake in a sports drink in which he was the primary shareholder.
What’s He Going to Do, Exactly?
However, it’s unclear what Bryant is planning to do or say at the TRON summit. Representatives have also yet to comment on how his life experiences could potentially boost TRON adoption in the future. A spokesperson for the company recently commented:
“We can’t draw any conclusions about his involvement in blockchain for now.”
Perhaps we’ll just have to wait and see.