Local entrepreneurs have launched a cryptocurrency and are building a platform they say will allow investors to profit by picking up-and-coming athletes.
Game Coin, the digital currency, has been available since June and can be purchased now on the company’s website, co-founder David Mahler says. BitMart has given provisional approval to make Game Coin available on its platform pending completion of an audit of the company’s code, he says.
While BitMart is not the largest cryptocurrency platform, it would provide validation for Game Coin, Mahler says.
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“It’s kind of like being in the minor leagues and working your way up to the major leagues,” he says. “We’re working our way up that ladder now.”
Mahler says the associated platform will allow statistics tracking for athletes as young as 9. After paying a one-time fee, athletes can upload their stats, highlights and training regimen and get rewards for hitting certain milestones.
“It’s their own digital sports card on that page,” Mahler says. “Over time, they become their own token.”
Investors will have the ability to speculate on the athletes, gaining value depending on how the athlete performs. The more players participate, the more valuable the currency will be, the company says. You do not have to be a token holder in Game Coin to then invest in the athletes once the platform is launched, and you can be a token holder without investing in any of the athletes on the platform.
“Investors can go in there and basically sift through a bunch of penny stocks, looking at these athletes and deciding which ones are going to be better in the future,” Mahler says.
Imagine investing in LeBron James as a teenager, for example.
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LSU football players Myles Brennan and Jay Ward are among the athletes serving as “ambassadors” for Game Coin through name, image and likeness deals, the company says. The current value of a Game Coin is about $.00401 and the market cap—the amount of money it would take to buy all the remaining coins—was a little less than $300 million this morning, the company says. Game Coin also can be converted to other cryptocurrencies.
A portion of the currency’s 10% transaction fee will be distributed back to Game Coin holders as a dividend, the company says. Another portion is dedicated to charity, and $400,000 has been raised so far, the company says. South Lafourche and Central Lafourche high schools are slated to be the first recipients of the company’s charitable grants, receiving $100,000 each to rebuild sports facilities damaged by Hurricane Ida.
This story originally appeared in a Sept. 28 edition of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.