UPCOMING ICO: MICHAEL OWEN TO LAUNCH TOKEN VIA ICO
In good company
Filipino champ Manny Pacquiao is also involved in the project and plans to release his own PAC Coin in the near future.
Indeed, by entering the crypto-sphere, Owen follows in the footsteps of countless other athletes, movie stars and musicians who’ve been seduced by the wonderful world of cryptocurrencies. Floyd Mayweather Jr., Steven Seagal, and Jamie Foxx are just a few high-profile personalities to lend their respective names to a crypto project or two.
Not much is known about Owen’s upcoming release but it’s clear the start sees value in cryptos. He has been heavily involved in business since his retirement from professional football.
"The career of a sportsman is quite short" and there remains a life to live after retirement, Owen said.
SEC warns against celebrity-endorsed ICOs
However, the SEC has specifically warned against blindly investing in celebrity-endorsed token sales because they are often less-than-legitimate.
And celebs often lend their names to projects they no little about for undisclosed sums of cash. The US government is eager to put a stop to this.
They want ICOs to be transparent in the amount paid to celebrities. Or, have celebrities prove that they are themselves investing in the projects or at least know what they are about.
Introducing GCOX
Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX) is the first cryptocurrency exchange to help celebrities create, list and trade their own cryptocurrencies, known as Celebrity Tokens.
GCOX allows the public to have unparalleled access to the stars through the sale of exclusive goods and services, transacted through Celebrity Tokens as well as the Acclaim Token (ACM).
Through open market forces and the valuation of Celebrity Tokens, GCOX aims to serve as the first authoritative popularity index for celebrities.
GCOX will not accept ICO donations from US citizens so as to avoid any unwanted legal attention.
The startup is raising private investment and will announce the timing of its first ICO in the second quarter, a GCOX spokesman told CNBC.
Celebrities will be able to launch their own tokens via GCOX and sell merchandise and services which will be paid for in tokens.
The celebrities will then have the option of swapping the tokens for Bitcoin or Ether before cashing out at the prevailing market rate, the spokesman said.
