FTX Ropes in Tennis Star Naomi Osaka as Brand Ambassador to Bring More Women to Crypto

At FTX, Osaka will work to bridge the gender gap in crypto as the first female pro athlete to have partnered with the exchange.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 22 March 2022 16:47 IST

Photo Credit: Women's Tennis Association (WTA)

Osaka will help lead initiatives to bring more women into Web 3

Highlights

The tennis star will focus on encouraging women to take to crypto
Osaka will receive an equity state in FTX Trading
The deal also involves FTX making a charitable donation

Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX has inked a long-term partnership with the four-time tennis Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka who will serve as a global ambassador of the trading venue. Osaka, who will also receive an equity stake in FTX Trading Limited for her role and compensation in digital assets, will focus on onboarding more women onto FTX's platform and introducing them to the world of Web 3 technologies. With this deal, Osaka joins seven-time National Football League (NFL) champion Tom Brady, baseball star Shohei Ohtani and NBA legend Stephen Curry on FTX's roster of sports ambassadors.

“We've heard statistics on how few women are involved in crypto by comparison, which reflects the imbalance we find in other financial industries,” Osaka said. "Cryptocurrencies were created with the intention of being accessible to everyone and removing entrance barriers.”

If @StephenCurry30 @TomBrady and @giseleofficial are in then you know I am too! Excited for the journey ahead with @FTX_Official and SBF_FTX ???? pic.twitter.com/ydrjhoKPaL
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) March 21, 2022

Osaka will “creatively direct and produce content” aimed at a global audience, according to the exchange, and will wear the FTX logo throughout her competition at the Miami Open, which starts on March 21.

The long-term partnership between the two also involves the exchange making a charitable donation to Play Academy — a charitable organisation effort by Osaka in partnership with Nike and Laureus Sport for Good, aimed at changing girls' lives through sports.

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"Our partnership with Naomi Osaka will further our goal of getting more diverse voices involved in the future of digital currency and Web 3. I am excited to work with Naomi as we look to educate those groups and create a positive impact in the world," said FTX CEO [Sam Bankman-Fried](.

Osaka, who was previously ranked Number 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), is no stranger to the crypto world. In August 2021, she and her sister Mari created a non-fungible token (NFT) collection, which was sold for over $600,000 (roughly Rs. 4.5 crore). The tennis player has also expressed interest in cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin in the past, implying that token ventures may “pop up.”

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