Celebrities are now jumping into the crypto market. In fact, Floyd Mayweather even backed a cryptocurrency. Months ago, Manny Pacquiao announced having his own cryptocurrency dubbed as Pac Token. Manny Pacquiao is set to be a special guest at the Blockchain Fair Asia 2018 which is going to be held in Manila on October 11 to 12 this year.
The theme of the event according to organizers is “Looking Beyond the Blockchain Hype”. This will take place at the SMX Convention Center Aura in Taguig City. The objective of the event is to separate the realistic promises from uncertain probabilities within the crypto niche.
Pac Token is going to be powered by Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX). The Pac Token is a utility token that is going to be used in order to buy exclusive merchandise, tickets, and other services once you are using the platform.
Manny Pacquiao gained popularity as being the first eight-division world champion. He was able to beat some of the biggest names in boxing during his era including Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, and Oscar de la Hoya. He also faced Floyd Mayweather.
Aiding Celebrities to Create Crypto?
GCOX called themselves as the “world’s first platform that tokenizes popularity”. In addition to this, they also mentioned that their goal is to help celebrities “create their personal crypto tokens”. For Manny Pacquiao, he was signed by GCOX earlier this year in March. He was the very first celebrity that collaborated with GCOX.
Celebrity Tokens a Good or a Bad Thing?
Is a celebrity token a good or a bad thing? Two founders of the cryptocurrency Centra have been changed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to be carrying out a fraudulent ICO. This is the same token that was able to raise $32 million since it was promoted by Floyd Mayweather. Sohrab “Sam” Sharma along and Robert Farkas who were co-founders of Centra were arrested.
But not all celebrities give cryptocurrencies a bad reputation. You have the likes of Akon that has been able to help a village in Senegal. The cryptocurrency called Akoin was able to raise $19 million which enabled Akon to bring into fruition a “real life Wakanda”. Akon explained that “I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system. It allows the people to utilize it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down”.
Knowing how celebrities influence how people think, it is important that they become picky when it comes to cryptocurrencies that they support. Ripple has been able to make use of celebrities and politicians for this purpose as well. In fact, Ashton Kutcher even appeared on Ellen Degeneres promoting Ripple showing how XRP could be used donating for Ellen’s charity on her birthday.
Do celebrities really help the cause of promoting blockchain or is it simply something that is used to lure investors especially those who don’t know anything about cryptocurrencies or blockchain?
