NBA Star Steph Curry Joins Tom Brady as FTX Ambassador
Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading empire adds another professional athlete to its cap table.
In the crypto exchange’s continued push to court sports fans everywhere, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been signed as an “FTX global ambassador.”
As part of the deal, Curry will receive an equity stake in FTX, the company said Tuesday.
It’s just the latest sports tie-up for Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading empire. Earlier this year, National Football League great Tom Brady and wife Gisele Bündchen inked a similar deal. FTX logos are emblazoned on the uniforms of Major League Baseball umpires. The crypto exchange’s name is even on the Miami Heat basketball team’s arena in Florida.
Curry made waves last week when he snapped up a few choice non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In late August, the Warriors point guard purchased a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for 55 ETH, and currently uses the image as his Twitter profile picture.
Curry’s Ethereum history shows that he’s also since minted NFTs from the Bossy Bear, Kongs and Pixel collections. His wallet currently holds 4.8 ETH.
The shared FTX ownership may explain this Twitter exchange from Monday night:
FTX is looking to seize the opportunity following recent stumbles by competing exchange Binance and surging interest in crypto trading in the U.S.
And the current push extends beyond splashy marketing partnerships.
The exchange’s FTT token surged to all-time highs last week after the company’s U.S. arm, FTX.US, announced the acquisition of crypto derivatives platform LedgerX.
The partnership with Curry extends FTX’s National Basketball Association foray beyond stadium naming rights.
“I’m excited to partner with a company that demystifies the crypto space and eliminates the intimidation factor for first-time users,” Curry said in a press release. “FTX is likeminded when it comes to giving back to the community in meaningful ways and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”
The deal with FTX includes an annual charitable contribution to Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s foundation, Eat.Learn.Play.