Arsenal signs agreement with CashBet for cryptocurrencies: the London club becomes the first in the world to promote such a business.
THEArsenal became the first major football club to sign an agreement to promote gods services for cryptocurrency. The club has reported that it has reached an agreement with the company cashbet, which is planning to launch its CashBet Coin currency in the short term: the new currency will be the object of advertisements in the home games of the London team's Premier League.
Recall that CashBet is a Californian online gaming company established in 2012, and that now it has prepared the last steps to officially launch its own Initial Coin Offering (ICO): its goal is to raise $ 40 million by asking its investors to buy CashBet token, which can then be used to bet on its various online games.
The head of the Arsenal marketing office, Vinai Venkatesham, said he "can't wait to work with CashBet Coin in the launch of their new cryptocurrency". However, the BBC has also questioned how much it can be to support a very volatile business, and if with this promotional action there is no risk of encouraging fans to bet with CashBet Coins.
ICOs have become an extremely popular way among companies, a useful tool to be able to raise funds without going through ordinary credit channels. However, these are unregulated transactions, and investors who purchase ICO tokens have no "real" stake in the corporate business, and do not receive dividends (as would be the case with equities). They simply hope to profit from the growing value of the nascent cryptocurrency.
Of course, the bookmaker protagonist of the ICO is instead regulated by the UK Gambling Commission and by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, but a spokesman for the same company has however admitted that this protection cannot apply to the new cryptocurrency business.
