Brazilian WCT competitor Silvana Lima has become the first female athlete in the world to be sponsored by a cryptocurrency.
You’re familiar with cryptocurrency by now, yes?
Kore (formerly known as Kore Coin) is a project focused on privacy and security. They aim to “provide an entire ecosystem that facilitates privacy and security” including anonymous financial transactions, phone calls, web browsing, and an anonymous marketplace.
The Kore project has aligned with surf culture because they believe their values and aims match those of surfers. In their words: “Kore realizes these freedoms perfectly align with the Freedom Loving Culture of Surfers. Free…out there on the Ocean Waves. We will be Surfing the Internet freely once more “Hanging Ten Digits”.
Surfing features heavily in Kore’s branding. The main image on their website is of an unidentified surfer on a tow board in a throaty barrel (likely Teahupoo). They also feature an image of a girl with a surfboard under her arm, wearing a t-shirt which dons the slightly dubious slogan: “Get your cryptos wet.” It’s not entirely clear how one might get one’s “crypto’s wet.”
In scoring a Kore sponsorship deal, Lima becomes one of the first athletes in the world to bridge the emerging cryptocurrency industry with sports. To our knowledge, Lima can lay claim to being the first woman ever sponsored by a company in the crypto space. She is potentially the first of many sports stars who might benefit from an influx of money and interest from this sector.
Canadian speed skater and PyeongChang Olympic silver medallist Ted-Jan Bloemen is credited with being the first athlete in the world to have a cryptocurrency sponsorship. Bloemen signed a one-year deal with a virtual reality developer named CEEK VR and a blockchain based social network called onG Social.
Silvana Lima recently stormed her way to the semi-final of the second event of the WCT season at Bells Beach, Australia, where she was a previous champion in 2009. After Bells, Lima is currently ranked as the 7th female surfer in the world. Kore will be hoping that her success will boost the visibility of their project during the current downturn in the crypto economy following record highs at the beginning of the year.
Surfing and the cryptocurrency industry might not seem like an obvious match, but actually, they share many similarities. Both are unpredictable, and both involve massive highs and deep lows. And of course, in crypto and in surf, you must always be prepared for it to be pumping one minute and flat the next!
