Though he's not certainly strapped for cash after his recent win against UFC Champion Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather is looking into a lucrative second career as a promoter for Bitcoin. In between his usual updates leading up to his big pay-per-view fight, Mayweather has been taking to social media to promote initial coin offerings. He's even given himself a new nickname, "Floyd Crypto Mayweather." In July, Mayweather promoted Stox.com, a blockchain prediction company. The company was able to raise $33 million on its first day.
This month, Mayweather has his sights set on Hubii Network, a media technology, and content distribution platform with 50 million customers. Hubii network is hoping to raise $50 million through their Etherium based initial coin offering, though it's not open to American investors. Mayweather's hashtag #ad on his tweet suggests that he might have been compensated by Hubii for his promotion. On his Instagram, he expressed hope that the digital currency could be used for smart sports contracts.
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Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are the new funding vehicle using blockchain technology. Nearly $2 billion has been raised by the method since the beginning of the year, leading many people to suspect that it might be a bubble poised to burst, as many are using it as a method to raise large amounts of capital without it being tied to an actual product. To raise money, a company issues a new digital currency that can be spent inside its ecosystem or used to power part of the business.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has started to take a closer look at ICOs, with the result being companies running ICOs having much more difficulty getting US investments. Some investors have found a way around this by setting up an Etherium address in another country.
Mayweather stands to make around $25 million in merchandising alone, from his bout with McGregor, and is estimated to take in a total of around $175 million. With all of that extra cash in his pocket, he's in a great place to start a second career in the world of cryptocurrency, as long as he can keep his spending in check.
