FC Barcelona Sign 'Unknown' ZKP Blockchain

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FC Barcelona Sign ZKP ⛓️ 

Spanish football giants FC Barcelona have announced Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP), a privacy-first blockchain technology that operates with decentralised AI, will become, through to 2028, FC Barcelona’s Official Cryptographic Protocol Partner.

(And no, I don’t think this was a marketing effort to squish as many buzzwords into one sentence as possible, but it definitely sounds that way)

As per the announcement, the agreement includes ZKP’s use of digital advertising assets across the club’s different communication channels, as well as offering Barça experiences to its fans.

In the press release by Barcelona they state that:

ZKP's goal is to create a new standard for data and AI in the global sports context. In this new model, digital experiences will be personalised, with privacy as the top priority. AI systems will analyse athletes’ data securely, without disclosing it or using it inappropriately. Transparency and accountability will underpin all tools within the realm of sports technology.

I’ll repeat this part: “Transparency and accountability will underpin all tools within the realm of sport technology”

The irony?

Nobody knows who ZKP are.

They are registered in Samoa.

Their socials were created 3 weeks before the announcement with FC Barcelona.

Had 33 Twitter followers on X (formerly Twitter) and was following just three accounts: FC Barcelona, Bitcoin and… Andrew Tate.

We’ll get to that last bit shortly.

On ZKP’s website, whilst simultaneously promising privacy and transparency, in the ‘team’ section, they do not name their team but instead cite ‘The Hidden Architects’ who ‘build without names’.

Anonymity and pseudo-anonymity are commonplace in crypto. But having met and known dozens of people in both camps, many are some of the most talented developers and creators in the space.

Something (the prompted-in-2-hours nature of their website) tells me this is not the case for ZKP’s founders.

Indeed, Yahoo Finance have already outlined concerns about the blockchain, which is yet to launch, may have an affiliation to Andrew Tate.

Whilst not validated, the comments in their announcement on X may point to it being the case.

They are not the first sports team to do a deal with ZKP.

In the same month, the Brisbane Dolphins, a professional rugby team in Australia, also chose ZKP as their blockchain partner.

This has, of course, sparked fury, dismay and confusion among many of Barcelon’s supporters and associates.

Indeed, one of these is Antoni Martin, co-founder of Ethereum Layer 2 Blockchain Polygon and big FC Barcelona fan (and Sporting Crypto reader, so shout out to Antoni) — summed it up well.

It’s a partnership that feels like we have teleported back to 2020.

Concluding thoughts 💭 

(1) FC Barcelona are desperate for money

FC Barcelona have been financially on the edge since 2021.

But even considering this, I can’t imagine ZKP have large amounts of capital ready to spend on a partnership like this.

(2) Where did ZKP get the money?

ZKP are pre-token launch, and it’s unknown where they have found the funds to pay for an expensive partnership like this.

A partnership with FC Barcelona is not cheap. Likely 8 figures over a 2.5 year period (through to 2028). So, who has funded them, knowing they are spending a lot of their capital on a partnership like this?

(3) I thought this era was over

I somewhat understand the lack of due diligence when there is a major partner that has multiple sports partnerships. For example, not many predicted FTX’s spectacular collapse. The exchange boasted a robust cap table, huge volumes and dozens of public-facing partnerships. One could be forgiven for assuming the legitimacy of the organisation.

But this partnership with ZKP is… bad even for 2021’s standards.

(4) This might be connected to Futureverse’s recent shutdown

Barcelona had a partnership with Futureverse, who recently went into sudden receivership. Perhaps this was plugging a hole last minute, and it was the only thing they could find?

(5) In the same week, Ethereum announced something awesome in Zero Knowledge Proofs

In the same week, the Zksync team, in the Ethereum ecosystem, made a big breakthrough. ZKP, using this technology as a shell for what is clearly an unserious organisation, is sad to see.

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General ‘Stuff’ that Could Impact You

• Pro-Crypto CFTC Chair Nominee Won’t Commit to More Agency Resources or Dem Commissioners (Read more here)

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