Major League Baseball (MLB) has announced it’s not looking to continue the deal it struck with now fallen crypto exchange FTX.
The MLB Is Stepping Away from FTX
The deal was initially formed prior to 2021, though it’s taken some time for things to get off the ground. Now that the company has filed bankruptcy and lost so much money due to illicit accounting activities, the MLB has said that it’s looking to back out of the deal and part ways with the disgraced digital currency company for good.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued the following statement:
The FTX development was a little jarring. We have been careful moving forward in this space. We’ve been religious about staying away from coins themselves as opposed to more company-based sponsorships. We think that was prudent particularly given the way things unfolded. We will proceed with caution in the future.
The deal was considered one of the most revolutionary in the space. This was the first time when a professional sports league had conjured such a deal with a crypto exchange. What a shame that things have come to such an ugly and drastic end.
FTX will likely go down as one of the most embarrassing events to ever occur within the realms of the digital currency arena. Formed in the year 2019, FTX was still a relatively new venture, though it came to fruition rather quickly and rose through the ranks to become one of the biggest and most popular digital currency exchanges in the world.
Many industry heads and analysts lauded the company’s founder and head executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, as a genius. They were surprised by how far he was allegedly able to take the company in a relatively short period, and they commended him for what they felt was true business acumen. Unfortunately, this reputation has fallen apart in recent weeks given the company has suddenly come crashing down.
Trouble began in mid-November when Bankman-Fried announced that FTX was experiencing a liquidity crunch and needed funds. Initially, the company went to Binance for help and asked if the larger company was willing to buy it out or engage in an acquisition of sorts to bring it back to form. At first, it looked like this was going to happen, though eventually, Binance backed out of the deal and issued a statement that the problems FTX was dealing with were too big for it to handle.
The End of an Era?
From there, FTX had no choice but to engage in bankruptcy proceedings. Its executive Sam Bankman-Fried also resigned from his post, and the company’s reputation has now been fully tarnished, likely on a permanent basis.
Several MLB players such as former slugger David Ortiz have been named in a lawsuit for their alleged promotion of the failed company.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/mlb-ends-partnership-with-fallen-crypto-exchange-ftx/