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Kevin Durant Announces Partnership With Coinbase

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Kevin Durant Announces Partnership With Coinbase

One of the peculiarities of the blockchain industry is that its success seems to attract the attention even of people who do not work in the financial sector. The crypto market counts artists, sports stars, and other public figures among its supporters.

This is the case, for example, of NBA star Kevin Durant, also known as KD. The sportsman, who now plays for the Brooklyn Nets, has never hidden his passion for the crypto world. As noted, Durant was one of the first investors in Coinbase, years before the company went public.

Recently, KD announced a new strategic partnership with the popular crypto exchange. The agreement would consist of a marketing service, where Durant is set to become one of the main Coinbase testimonials. In return, the portal will launch a series of initiatives requested by the basketballer, as we will explain in this article.

The latest initiatives by Thirty Five Ventures

Thirty Five Ventures is a company created by Durant and Rich Kleiman, famous American sports manager, in 2016. The initiative was born as a venture investment channel looking for promising ideas and projects (for example, Coinbase).

Through the Boardroom web portal, the company has been disseminating information on the crypto industry for years. The boardroom is at the centre of the new agreement with Coinbase, as the deal includes:

  • KD will become one of the leading icons representing Coinbase in the world
  • Coinbase will create informative and educational content on the crypto world, published through Boardroom
  • The exchange will also donate money to the charitable foundation created by KD to support young people from low-income families.

The agreement numbers are not available yet. However, it is clear that this deal represents another entry of KD into the digital economy. Thirty Five Ventures is not new to this type of initiative.

Over 80 companies have raised the interest and capital of the two investors, and, among these, there are other noteworthy names:

  • Postmates: delivery service, owned by Uber, was one of Thirty Five Ventures’ most successful investments. Interestingly, KD completed the investment before Uber’s acquisition
  • Topia: an experimental metaverse that, with NFT technology, is gaining popularity in the industry
  • Infinite Objects: a company that promises to “print videos”, to be exhibited at home as if they were photographs
  • Mojo App: an online portal that, thanks to the partnership with KD, will soon publish video resources to teach basketball online

Durant’s first investment in Coinbase

Durant’s relationship with cryptos and Coinbase began way before 2021. In 2017, Thirty Five Ventures contacted the exchange and invested directly in the company. While we do not know the money that the two entrepreneurs invested, it’s clear that the operation was a success.

Back in 2017, Coinbase was not a listed company. However, by running a quick simulation, one can easily assume that Durant’s investment grew by more than 50 times by the company’s IPO. 

We know that Durant and his partner recently invested $1 million in Postmates. One may, therefore, expect a significant investment operation in Coinbase, with millions of profit for the venture company.

Infinite Acquisition Corp: Crypto exchanges and much more

Earlier this year, the NBA star announced the creation of a special-purpose acquisition company (commonly known as SPACs). The aim of this new idea would seem to be to direct more significant investments towards, among others, the crypto industry.

The SPAC, created under Infinite Acquisition Corp., was born from a solid collaboration between KD and the financial company LionTree. The Registration Form filed with the SEC provides more information on the initiative, which should focus on the following industries:

  • Sport: a sportsmanlike KD certainly couldn’t miss the opportunity to use his experience in this area
  • Health & Wellness: the company intends to invest in the digitization of the sector, anticipating growth in this area
  • Food Tech & Supply: The SPAC expects food and wealth industries to go through a new digital era closely related to the previous point.
  • E-Commerce: according to the businessmen, strong brands still lack the right amount of digitalization and will have to move in this direction
  • Crypto and Digital Assets: from exchanges to NFTs, the SPAC is ready to build a new investment portfolio in the blockchain world.

The interest of the sports business in crypto investing

This is not the first time the sports world has looked at cryptocurrencies with interest. There are platforms that, for example, have created a system of “fan tokens” to design a new sports industry experience.

Earlier this year, Coinbase has concluded another essential deal with the NBA and the WNBA, becoming the official sponsor of the two basketball worlds.

Furthermore, no one can forget the name change of the LA Lakers stadium to Crypto.com Arena. Moreover, the crypto platform FTX has concluded the same deal with the Miami Heat, whose fans now go to the “FTX Arena”.

But it’s not just basketball; the Major League Baseball (MLB) counts FTX among its sponsors. With similar deals in the National Football League (NFL) and Formula 1, the sports industry establishes a solid relationship with the sector. 

What to expect from the future 

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The trend already started in the world of sport should continue. These initiatives are not rare cases, and it will be interesting to keep an eye on future developments. Also, we will be providing updates on the subject to readers in the future.

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Born in Italy, Gianluca is a finance and data specialist, coming from an academic education at Sorbonne University in Paris and a career as Senior Advisor at Ernst & Young in the Banking and Blockchain sector.

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