By
Mayowa Adebajo
April 11th, 2024
The work of Naomi Osaka with FTX would help to ensure women’s involvement in the crypto world.
Continuing its association with sports legends from popular athletes to professional leagues and organizations, crypto exchange FTX recently announced a partnership with four-time Grand Slam Singles champion Naomi Osaka. As part of the deal, Osaka would be displaying the FTX logo during her tournaments and will help in content production aimed to inspire and motivate young women to enter the world of crypto. Naomi Osaka won’t just be a global ambassador to one of the largest crypto exchanges but will also become a shareholder and receive compensation in crypto.
Some other athletes and sports entities to have associated with the brand are Tom Brady, Shohei Ohtani, Stephen Curry and Major League Baseball, Tam SoloMid, Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors respectively.
Partnership to Champion Women’s Involvement
The tennis champion is known for her efforts towards social justice and mental health awareness. Through this partnership, Osaka wants to extend efforts towards similar goals. In her statement as part of the press release, the tennis star emphasized the inequalities observed in the financial space when it comes to women’s participation in the crypto ecosystem. As per a 2021 survey of 121 crypto company founders, not even 5% comprise women. Also, when it comes to NFT artists, just about 5% are females according to the Art Tactic survey released in November 2021.
For Osaka, her work with FTX would make sure the goal of cryptocurrencies is achieved with respect to women’s involvement, which is being accessible to everyone leading to increased democratization of the crypto landscape. As the first female professional athlete, Osaka would work towards bridging the gender gap within the crypto market.
As part of the deal, Osaka’s involvement in content production would ensure the focus is on a global audience in the context of the athlete’s Haitian and Japanese origins. Osaka would wear the FTX logo for the first time at the Miami Open tournament. FTX in return would help Osaka in her crypto-related activities and investments while also making a donation to Play Academy, the tennis star’s charitable organization aimed at changing the lives of girls through sports.
Naomi Osaka and Her Crypto Journey
This is not a crypto debut for the tennis champion as she has already been a part of the blockchain industry for some time now. In addition to being on the Autograph NFT platform, she is also one of the members of its Board of Advisors. Some time back, Osaka had released NFT collectibles to raise funds for Play Academy.
About FTX
FTX is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges headquartered in the Bahamas with an extensive suite of offerings comprising industry-leading derivatives, tokenized stocks, volatility products, leveraged tokens, prediction markets and an OTC desk. It was founded by MIT graduates Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang in 2019 with the aim to offer a platform that will not just serve professional trading firms but will also attract the attention of first-time exchange users. FTX is big on charity and as an organization has donated over $10 million towards social causes.