Philippine boxing champion Manny Pacquiao has launched the world’s first celebrity cryptocurrency, according to the South China Morning Post.
Pacquiao’s “Pac” token, which allows fans to buy his merchandise and interact with him via social media, was launched at the boxer-slash-politician-slash-singer’s debut concert in Manila on Sunday. It will be listed on Singapore’s Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX) and it counts former Liverpool striker Michael Owen and Emirati billionaire Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed al-Nahyan as investors. Pacquiao reportedly “serenaded more than 2,000 fans to drum up interest in the product.”
While the first, Pacquiao’s celebrity crypto certainly won’t be the last: American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo and Danish tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki, among others, are also planning to launch their own tokens with GCOX. Jeffrey Lin, founder and CEO of GCOX, said that the tokens are not intended for just raising money, “but to build an ecosystem.”
Photo: SUNIL GROVER
