Winklevoss twins invest $4.5 million in Peter McCormack's football club as UFC fighter asks for Bitcoin bonus

While the days of world-famous athletes promoting cryptocurrency exchanges have yet to return since the collapse of FTX (and the subsequent class-action lawsuits against some of those promoters), several stories from this weekend hint that the athletic world and the crypto world may be moving closer together again. 

On Saturday, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of the Gemini exchange, announced their investment of $4.5 million worth of Bitcoin into football club Real Bedford FC, which is owned by Peter McCormack, host of popular podcast What Bitcoin Did. The Winklevoss twins will assume the role as co-owners alongside McCormack, who purchased the team in 2021. 

The investment is the largest ever made into a football club in the United Kingdom outside of the professional leagues, according to a press release, and will be used to develop a new training center, nurture local talent, and continue to support girls' and youth football. 

The two newly minted co-owners likened Real Bedford's underdog story to that of Bitcoin itself in a post on X, writing, "We believe that Real Bedford — powered by bitcoin and Peter’s leadership — has the ability to defy the odds, upset the establishment, and dethrone incumbents."

VeChain's UFC partnership evolves

Elsewhere in the sports world, VeChain and UFC have announced the latest result of their partnership: fighting gloves with an NFC chip built in for authentication and fan engagement purposes. To celebrate the launch, the company announced that UFC President Dana White minted an exclusive initial set of 25 gloves for well-known individuals such as Joe Rogan. 

"While the improved gloves serve to better protect athletes, the integrated $VET-powered chips provide a means to provide an immutable record usage, and ensures fans who receive gloves receive genuine products, authenticated by blockchain, preventing fraud and also preserving their value," the company wrote in a post on X. 

VeChain and UFC's partnership began in 2022 with a reported 5-year, $100 million sponsorship deal. VeChain lauded the partnership as a success, crediting it with helping boost the adoption of the VeChainThor protocol. 

"Prior to UFC 300, fighter Renato Moicano, said that if he won a bonus, he wanted it paid out in bitcoin. However, he didn't win any bonus, with Max Holloway picking up the majority of the bonus money on the table.