Former footballer Michael Owen has launched his own personal cryptocurrency. However, he is far from being the first celebrity to support blockchain technology.
Michael Owen Launches ‘OWN’
Owen, 38, unveiled the token at a Blockchain summit in Dubai, announcing that ‘OWN’ will have the status of his own personal cryptocurrency. As Owen runs a series of soccer schools across Asia, he wants to see kids paying in tokens to attend.
The tokens can also be used to buy fan merchandise directly from him and interact with him in training videos and live-streamed training programs.
“I’ve got a few businesses around the world, a lot of which are in Asia, and in terms of cryptocurrencies and those businesses, it felt like a marriage in the sense that you could use these tokens to be involved with me,” said the former Liverpool striker.
Owen has also signed an agreement with Singapore-based startup GCOX (Global Crypto Offering Exchange), which he also part-owns.
Crypto-Messi
Argentine star Lionel Messi is interested in cryptocurrencies too. The five-time Ballon d'Or award winner earlier said that he had been "digging deeper into blockchain and decentralized systems".
Following individual players’ interest, the football and crypto worlds appear to have begun merging. Earlier this year, English Premier League club Arsenal reached an agreement with gaming company CashBet to advertise its CashBet Coin.
SportyCo, a decentralized sports investment platform, also signed a sponsorship agreement with RCD Espanyol. Fan favorites such as Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho supported the platform.
Snoop Dogg Supports Ripple
It’s not only athletes that are interested in cryptocurrencies - big names from the music industry are getting involved as well. Snoop Dogg will perform at Ripple’s XRP Community Night in New York onMay 15.
The Long Beach native has been showing interest in cryptocurrencies for quite some time - Snoop invested in Robinhood, a stock trading platform, in 2014, which has now taken up cryptocurrencies. Snoop took part in a commercial for the app at the beginning of the year, joining the likes of Lionel Ritchie in publically promoting cryptocurrencies. Ritchie appeared in a Super Bowl LII halftime spot for TD Ameritrade, advertising bitcoin futures.
Rapper Mims to Launch Blockchain-Based Company
Award-winning rapper Mims has co-founded RecordGram, a project which aims to help artists and producers create music and uses a blockchain to facilitate royalty payments and control artists’ digital rights. The project works through an app that both producers and artists can sign up for. According to RecordGram’s website, the app enables members to create and store notes and audio clips, and listen to materials that have already been shared.
The app’s token, called “tune”, was created to “solve digital song writer rights and royalty transparency issues for the music industry,” the website says. In doing so, it stores artists’ content, created on the platform, using a blockchain. Users can convert “tunes” into RecordGram credits to purchase clips or tip the artists. Mims has stated that he will be revealing more about the project at the Crypto Influence Summit in New York on May 17.
By Ekaterina Ulyanova