Japanese Esports Team Can Start Receiving Its Pay In Cryptocurrency

KEY POINTS

SBI e-Sports players in Japan could opt to receive their salaries in XRP
This decision is part of the deal with SBI VC Trade, a venture firm who also sponsors the e-Sports team
XRP currently has a market cap of $10.9 billion

Japan-based SBI e-Sports recently announced that players on the team could receive their salaries in the cryptocurrency XRP as part of a deal with SBI VC Trade, a venture firm established by Japanese financial conglomerate SBI group, and who also sponsors the e-Sports team.

First announced in a press release on Sept. 30, the sponsorship entails SBI VC Trade’s logo on the official website, with plans to put this logo on the players’ uniforms as well. The players have the option to receive their salaries in XRP moving forward.

Through the support of VC Trade, SBI e-Sports aims to continue building a strong team that will encourage the global fans to further appreciate e-games, the Japanese press release said.

XRP, the cryptocurrency of financial firm Ripple, currently has a market cap of $10.9 billion, making it the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Cointelegraph notes that Ripple has been a partner of SBI e-Sports and had, in 2019, established a $100 million fund to support game developers.

The Roppongi-based SBI VC Trade is engaged in cryptocurrency related services, such as exchange, translation services, and information offering. Its mission is to establish and nurture a digital asset and cryptocurrency market based on its customer-centric principles. The company has been registered as a Virtual Currency Exchange Service Provider since 2017.

In June 2019, SBI Holdings announced the establishment of SBI e-Sports, signalling the conglomerates entry into the eSports business. Citing the remarkable rate of development of the eSports industry, SBI said eSports has already been adopted as part of cultural programs in sports festivals in Japan. There were also eSports tournaments and events sponsored directly by local governments and regional financial institutions.

One aim of SBI Holdings through SBI e-Sports is to boost its brand recognition amount the “digitally-minded generation” as well as create synergies across the conglomerates various businesses.