Arsenal has become the first major football team to seal a deal with the US cryptocurrency CashBet to promote the CashBet Coin at Arsenal’s home games.
The deal has been made for an undisclosed amount and comes as economists are warning against investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
The Financial Conduct Authority has declined to comment on the deal between CashBet and the football team but did say they are planning to “conduct a deeper examination of the fast-paced developments” of ICOs and plans to take “further regulatory action” if required.
Chief commercial officer of the cryptocurrency, Vinai Venkatesham, said: “We are pleased to welcome CashBet Coin as our partner. We are looking forward to working with CashBet Coin as they launch their new cryptocurrency.”
CashBet was founded in 2012 and hopes to become the “undisputed leader” in the crypto-gambling market. Coins will initially cost 50 cents to purchase and are designed to be used on CashBet’s mobile phone apps.
Whilst become more mainstream, cryptocurrencies are also considered controversial with many top economists warning over their investment.
Axel Weber, the chairman of Swiss bank UBS, said on Tuesday that cryptocurrencies were “not an investment we would advise”.
“Retail clients, who don’t fully understand these products, should be protected from going into these products, because if there is a retail client affected in the future, the question will be again: ‘Who was the bank that sold them these products?’ and then banks will be blamed again for what has happened,” he added.
Cryptocurrencies have been a hot topic in Davos this week, with Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller comparing Bitcoins to the “tulip-mania” that once occurred in The Netherlands.
Theresa May also expressed concerns about the anonymous nature of virtual currencies and associated it with criminal activity.
“In areas like cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, we should be looking at these very seriously,” she said in Davos.