- Despite legal fallout from previous sponsor FTX, the Warriors named Coinbase as their new crypto partner.
- Coinbase is still embroiled in a year-and-a-half-long legal battle with the SEC.
The six-time National Basketball Association champion Golden State Warriors announced a new partnership with Coinbase as their “official cryptocurrency platform and blockchain partner.”
This is a significant return to crypto sponsorship for the team given its history of controversies.
Coinbase, which will work with the Warriors to promote merchandise and “exclusive fan experiences,” inherits a sponsorship role left vacant after the collapse of the Warriors’ former crypto partner FTX.
The partnership could cause more unwanted problems for the team depending on the outcome of an ongoing battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In June 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against the exchange, accusing it of operating without registration and offering unregistered securities.
FTX fallout
The Warriors are also still dealing with legal issues stemming from the FTX fallout years later.
The franchise, along with MVP point guard Steph Curry, are named in a series of lawsuits alleging they misled investors by promoting FTX as a safe investment platform.
In one case, a Canadian investor named Elliott Lam sued Warriors, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, claiming that FTX’s collapse cost him $750,000.
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Lam’s lawsuit argues that the Warriors and their supporters “reasonably should have known” that FTX’s claims were misleading.
After FTX’s bankruptcy, other sports organizations, such as Major League Baseball and the Miami Heat, severed their own partnerships with the defunct platform.
