Tennis Champ Naomi Osaka Becomes Global Ambassador Of FTX

Tennis player Naomi Osaka has joined cryptocurrency exchange FTX as a brand ambassador, becoming one of the first major female professional athletes to partner with the firm.

In a statement released Monday, the crypto exchange announced a long-term partnership with Osaka and said the tennis champion will also also be given an equity stake in the company. The athlete would be receiving her compensation in crypto.

The popular tennis player will also creatively direct and produce content alongside FTX. In addition, Osaka will debut the FTX logo on her looks for the Miami Open.

Osaka has been vocal about her support for women in her sports career. With this collaboration, she will focus on bringing more women on board in the crypto industry.

"We have seen the statistics about how few women are part of crypto by comparison, which kind of mirrors the inequality we see in other financial markets," Osaka said.

"Cryptocurrencies started with the goal of being accessible to everyone and breaking down barriers to entry. I'm excited to partner with FTX to get back to that mission and to innovate on new ways to reach more people and further democratize the space."

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, said, "Just as FTX is at the forefront of crypto markets, we want to be at the forefront of social change. Our partnership with Naomi Osaka will further our goal of getting more diverse voices involved in the future of digital currency and Web3. I am excited to work with Naomi as we look to educate those groups and create a positive impact in the world. "

This is not Osaka's first involvement in cryptos. Last summer, the tennis player said she finds the first-ever meme coin Dogecoin “interesting."

“There is going to be something new and interesting that’s going to pop up,” she told Bloomberg back then.

Osaka further said that athletes, in general, should consider where to invest some funds as they cannot play their sports for a lifetime. Before that, Osaka had also released a non-fungible token collection.