Making Bitcoin more appealing to mainstream consumers can be difficult. Firas Zahabi is trying to do just that with his Pure Victory Championship. This new combat tournament will pay its winner in Bitcoin only. Whether or not ventures like these will help Bitcoin gain adoption remains to be seen.
The Pure Victory Championship May Put Bitcoin on the Map
There are a lot of negative associations with Bitcoin. Most people think of it as a tool and currency for criminal activity on the internet. It is certainly true that the darknet has helped Bitcoin gain more traction, even though it is anything but an exclusive payment method for illicit activity. There are hundreds of normal retailers and sites accepting Bitcoin payments as well, and they are seeing more traction every single month. That does not make cryptocurrency mainstream just yet, though.
Bringing Bitcoin to the sports industry has not proven particularly successful either so far. A while ago, a Bitcoin payment processor sponsored a football event, eventually rebranding it to the Bitcoin Bowl among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. However, that was a one-off deal and did not exactly help Bitcoin gain mainstream awareness. Even the sponsored commercials that aired during the event failed to get more people on board.
Most MMA (mixed martial arts) enthusiasts will have heard the name Firas Zahabi before. He is one of the many legends who has helped elevate the sport to new heights. Zahabi is best known for training a litany of skilled fighters, some of whom went on to become champions in diverse fighting promotions. He recently launched a new promotion called the Pure Victory Championship.
What makes this particular promotion so interesting is how its fights have no time limit. The winner can only be determined by submission, rather than by knockouts or judges’ score cards. It represents a very technical form of fighting. However, the even better part is that the winner of Pure Victory Championship will be paid in Bitcoin exclusively. That is rather uncommon and a very nice change to how things are normally done in this industry.
So far, the promotion’s YouTube channel has three videos posted. One can watch Pure Victory Championship matches free of charge to keep tabs on how things are progressing. The videos are compelling viewing, as they demonstrate how technically proficient one must be to pull off a victory. Some fighters will realize success a lot quicker than others, but the real winner will not be determined for quite some time.
The choice to pay out fighters in Bitcoin is pretty interesting. Most promotions use cash prizes or wire transfers to settle payments. Bitcoin is a cheaper option that works on an international basis without any third parties required. By the looks of things, it is a currency that will continue to gain in value for quite some time to come. One could argue that paying prize money in Bitcoin is illegal in Canada, the site of the tournament. Since the country does not recognize it as a currency, however, this does not appear to be an illegal venture.
