A New York Times report states that Taylor Swift approved her FTX deal after 6 months of discussions even though reports stated she never did.
Twelve-time Grammy-winning singer Taylor Swift agreed to a sponsorship deal with defunct crypto exchange FTX contrary to earlier reports that she had turned it down. A New York Times report confirms that reports stating the singer refused the deal may be inaccurate.
Last year, Taylor Swift negotiated the terms of an FTX deal that included tour sponsorship. Reportedly worth $100 million, the deal was to last three years and was aimed at improving the crypto exchange’s branding and image. Unfortunately, negotiations with Taylor Swift fell through as FTX’s situation worsened.
The New York Times report states that after negotiations that lasted more than six months, Swift eventually signed the deal. However, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) abandoned the deal, frustrating Swift and her team.
Before now, media reports stated that the FTX deal fell through because Swift and her team canceled it. According to the reports, the singer abandoned the deal after doing her due diligence on FTX. A CoinDesk report also references a lawyer who sued celebrities that had endorsed the now-defunct exchange. According to the lawyer, Taylor Swift asked FTX to tender proof it was not involved with unregistered securities.
FTX Staff Disliked the Taylor Swift Deal
Last year, Coinspeaker reported the potential deal between FTX and Taylor Swift. While the deal seemed to considerably favor the pop star, staff at the exchange were not pleased. Reportedly, “no one really liked the deal” because it was worth millions of dollars. Staff were concerned that SBF was willing to spend that much at a time when the company was already struggling. According to a source familiar with the matter, “it was too expensive from the beginning.”
In addition to the expense, staff believed that Taylor Swift could not reach FTX s intended target demographic audience. Employees maintained the deal would have failed and that SBF was too interested in the endorsement to properly mull over the potential drawbacks.
FTX Bankruptcy
Last November, the FTX group of companies filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the District of Delaware. Founder and then CEO SBF also resigned from his position following the filing. Before bankruptcy, FTX was the second largest cryptocurrency exchange after Binance. Following SBF’s resignation, John J. Ray III became the new CEO.
The effects of FTX’s collapse were felt almost immediately after the bankruptcy application. For instance, the collapse wiped more than $190 billion off the general crypto market in about seven days. While BTC lost 19%, ETH fell by 20%.
Solana (SOL) suffered the biggest loss as it crashed 53.8% in about two weeks. Solana’s market cap fell from $11.6 billion to $5.1 billion. This happened even though Solana Labs had no assets on FTX at the time of the crash. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko subsequently tried to allay investor fears, confirming there was enough financial power to last 30 months.
While SBF’s case is scheduled to begin in October, the exchange is looking to resume operations under new management.
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