Former Liverpool soccer star Michael Owen has partnered with the Singapore-based Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX) to issue his name-backed cryptocurrency OWN coin, Bloomberg reports March 21.
The OWN tokens, set to be launched next quarter, would be used to buy merchandise or make donations to charities chosen by the athletes. OWN will also be connected to soccer centers Owen is developing in addition to tutorials from the former player.
The move follows that of Filipino boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao, who will become the first celebrity to launch his token on the platform, dubbed PAC coin, reports Inquirer March 13.
GCOX is a Blockchain-based startup that allows celebrities to create their own digital currencies dubbed “Celebrity Tokens” that can be used by fans in order to pay for stars’ exclusive content. According to Bitcoin Exchange Guide, the idea of creating GCOX first emerged in February, 2017. The creators claim the project to be “the world’s first exchange helping celebrities create and list their own cryptocurrencies.” Meanwhile, there are similar players like TokenStars that call themselves “the first blockchain company to massively tokenize celebrities.”
Celebrities worldwide keep creating their own digital currencies despite warnings from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that ICOs endorsed by celebrities could be illegal, as reported in November, 2017.
On March 7, New Jersey regulators sent a cease and desist order to organizers of the ICO Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G) endorsed by Steven Seagal in February. On March 6, Young Dirty Bastard, the son of late rapper and producer Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan, announced he is launching his own cryptocurrency Dirty Coin (ODB).