In recent months, reports have circled around Manchester City’s partnership with the little-known cryptocurrency company 3Key Technologies.
In November, The Times reported that Manchester City had suspended their partnership with the firm over questions relating to the identities of senior executives at the firm itself.
3Key Technologies, The Times reported, is allegedly registered in Seychelles, although no proof of its existence is available on Seychelles’ companies database.
Now, the Daily Mail has reported that Manchester City has ended its relationship entirely with the cryptocurrency firm, again alluding to the view that it was unclear who the firm’s senior executives were.
The short-lived relationship with 3Key Technologies is not the first time the organization has dabbled in crypto.
Manchester City is just one of many of the world’s soccer clubs recently pivoting to crypto.
Soccer clubs and crypto
In March of last year, Manchester City launched its CITY fan token in partnership with Socios, a tokenization platform. The club-affiliated token allows fans to claim VIP rewards and club promotions.
The surge of soccer club tokens has also gone well beyond Manchester City.
Last month, the BBC said that over $350 million had been spent on these fan tokens, with funds spanning across the English Premier League and other soccer leagues across Europe.
As large as these numbers are, fan tokens have also become a point of controversy.
“My knowledge of the crypto market is sketchy to say the least, and I’m probably representative of a large number of run-of-the-mill football supporters who are not traders on the crypto market,” Sue Watson, a West Ham fan, told the BBC.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has also taken notice of fan tokens.
Last month, the ASA banned Arsenal FC’s AFC token ads, calling them “irresponsible.”
According to the ASA, the ads “trivialized investment in crypto assets and took advantage of consumers’ inexperience or credulity.”
