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West Ham United endorsing crypto company despite concerns over promotional activity in Russia
West Ham United remain in partnership with online finance business PEAKDEFI despite warnings over the company’s promotional activities in Russia according to The Daily Mail.
The club entered a partnership with PEAKDEFI in May 2022 and have shared an enthusiastic relationship with the Crypto company since their partnership began.
However, the Daily Mail reported (6 September) that there are now concerns over PEAKDEFI continuing to push their business in Russia.
It’s understood that the UK Government are concerned that Crypto assets could be used to help Russian individuals avoid sanctions after their Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Risky business
This appears quite risky business for the club to continue their partnership with PEAKDEFI considering the measures and sanctions that have been placed on certain Russian companies and individuals over the past six months.
PEAKDEFI haven’t broken the law, but their involvement in Russia will certainly raise questions going forward for the club hierarchy in regards to how they approach their ongoing partnership.
The largely unregulated world of cryptocurrency could be an area that West Ham look to remove itself from, especially if the company is actively promoting their business in Russia at the moment.
Particularly as the war is still ongoing in Ukraine, and with a number of big companies pulling out of Russia altogether, this isn’t the best look.
The idea of cryto currency becoming a more prominent part of football is not a far-fetched concept and could be a good thing if done correctly.
We have already seen a similar concept come into play at Crawley Town in League Two with NFT’s now at the forefront of their ownership model.