Ankr, a software platform and decentralized infrastructure provider, reached a multiyear blockchain-centered partnership with The NBA Kings.
Ankr, a leader in the digital-asset space as a software platform and decentralized infrastructure provider, announced an official multi-year partnership established from their mutual vision of the future of sports and blockchain as a technology with Sacramento Kings.
Apart from educating sports fans about the merits of the digital asset industry by hosting events and creating various projects, the Sacramento Kings and Ankr will also make an annual event at Golden 1 Center (the home of the sports club). There it will invite students and developers to learn about the developments in the crypto space.
Ankr CEO Chandler Song said: “We have visited the Kings data center for crypto mining inside their facilities many times, and I admire the openness of the owner, Vivek, to embrace new technologies. We are aligned in this mission to promote applications of Web 3 technologies.”
“Sports can be a powerful platform to educate and embrace innovation. We are proud to partner with Ankr to further align our synergies around forward-thinking initiatives and provide fans educational opportunities about the crypto economy,” added Vivek Ranadivé, Chairman and Owner of the Sacramento Kings.
Also team announced the NBA’s first blockchain-powered reward program with Blockparty in 2019 and collaborated with CryptoKaiju that year to launch the first physical crypto-collectible in professional sports.
The Kings also have a charitable crypto mining programme, called MiningForGood, which uses the data centres and tech infrastructure at the Kings’ home court and was set up in 2018.
In 2020, the Kings launched the league’s first live blockchain-powered auction platform with Consensys and Treum in 2020. ConsenSys, an Ethereum software company, announced earlier this week its acquisition of Treum’s team and NFT platform to advance its offerings in the growing sector.
Ankr, which was founded in 2017, provides infrastructure and the tooling needed to streamline the development of blockchain-based solutions. In 2021, Ankr’s protocol supports more than 50 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chains through their network and aims “to democratise access to the new internet economies for students, developers, fans and players alike.”
