The Coinbase logo can also be seen on the advertising boards in the future.
(Photo: IMAGO/Kirchner Media)
Frankfurt Coinbase announces its first involvement in football: The crypto exchange is a new partner of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund (BVB). Although the partnership has existed since July of last year, action has been rather cautious so far.
For example, Coinbase ads ran on the video screens during home games in the stadium, Coinbase Europe boss Daniel Seifert told Handelsblatt. According to the company, there were also workshops on crypto for BVB employees.
The partnership is now being deepened: With the start of the Bundesliga after the winter break, advertising in the stadium and promotions on all BVB marketing channels will be expanded, according to Seifert. This also includes perimeter advertising in Signal-Iduna-Park, the home of BVB, Germany’s largest football stadium.
The partnership is initially limited to the end of June this year. “The industry is very exciting, but still new. That’s why we want to keep our flexibility open,” said BVB Managing Director Carsten Cramer.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Flexibility, which may have become even more important due to the crypto crisis over the past year. Not only the extreme price losses scared many investors, crypto platforms such as FTX, Celsius and Voyager also blocked customers from accessing their accounts shortly before they went bankrupt. The crisis of confidence is deep.
In this environment, BVB deliberately proceeded very carefully and was selective, said Cramer. “As a listed club, we have imposed special requirements on ourselves. Coinbase’s Bafin license was a basic requirement for a cooperation,” said the BVB managing director.
The crypto exchange is a new partner of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.
(Photo: dpa)
The fact that the partnership is only being announced now, long after it started, is another indication that both parties want to act prudently in the current market environment. Because Coinbase is also feeling the effects of the crisis.
The San Francisco-based company announced last week that it would cut 950 jobs, which corresponds to almost 20 percent of its workforce. CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong shared in a blog post that the crypto exchange plans to cut its costs by 25 percent in the first quarter of this year.
>> Read here: Money laundering – Coinbase closes $100 million settlement in US
Coinbase was the first company to receive a license for custody and proprietary trading of cryptocurrencies from the German financial regulator in mid-2021. There are now a total of five companies with a crypto custody license. Coinbase wants to further increase its awareness in German-speaking countries through the partnership with BVB.
BVB and Coinbase talk about the future in a timely manner
Neither party wanted to say how much BVB would receive from Coinbase for the sponsorship. “We didn’t accept the most tempting offer, for us reliability was paramount,” emphasized Cramer.
The crypto industry has been active in professional sports for a number of years. The crypto trading platform Crypto.com was one of the sponsors of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The crypto exchange Bybit has been one of the BVB partners for several years, but for the Asian region. Coinbase is already advertising in other sports in the USA, such as the North American basketball league NBA and the football league NFL.
In April or May, Coinbase and BVB want to make a decision about further cooperation. In any case, the first interim conclusion after a six-month partnership is positive. Seifert speaks of a “stroke of luck”, and Cramer has also been “very satisfied” so far.
More: After the FTX bankruptcy, the crypto industry is struggling to survive