TSM Suspend Partnership With FTX Amid Crypto Exchange Meltdown

Published: Nov 17th, 2022, 14:51

On 16th November 2022, esteemed esports organization TSM announced that its partnership with FTX was officially suspended, effective immediately. This announcement follows the devastating meltdown of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange last week that saw the company’s CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resign from their position and the Bahama-based firm file for bankruptcy in New York, U.S.

This suspension means that all of TSM’s partnered branding with FTX, whether on clothes or online banners, will no longer appear and be removed immediately. In addition, the FTX logo, usually attached to TSM’s online social media and players, will also slowly change in the coming months. In reassurance, TSM stated that the downfall of the FTX currency exchange “doesn’t affect any part of [the esports organization’s] operating plan, which was set earlier this year.”

TSM’s $219 million partnership with FTX was one of esports largest sponsorship deals in the past few decades. TSM first established the partnership with FTX in June 2021, when the esports organization decided to sign a 10-year naming rights deal to feature the cryptocurrency exchange company’s name across all competitive scenes, teams, and social media platforms.

When the troubled crypto exchange surprisingly collapsed last week, TSM said it was “closely following the situation surrounding FTX” in a 12th November 2022 post on Twitter. The esports organization added, “We have no insight into the matter other than what has been reported publicly. We are currently consulting legal counsel to determine the best next steps to protect our team, staff, fans, and players.”

In addition, TSM noted that it had a “solid foundation” and was “profitable” and scalable, further stating that the collapse of FTX and its partnership with the company had no major impact on its growth moving forward.

On 16th November 2022, TSM officially announced that it suspended the esports organization’s partnership with FTX following the meltdown. TSM Tweeted the announcement, stating, “after monitoring the evolving situation and discussing internally, we’re suspending our partnership with FTX effective immediately.”

“This means that FTX branding will no longer appear on any of our org, team and player social media profiles, and will also be removed from our player jerseys. This process might take some time to complete as some social platforms have changed their product features. TSM is a strong, profitable, and stable organization. We forecast profitability this year, next year, and beyond,” TSM added.

As of writing, there’s likely no possibility that FTX will make a financial comeback following the filing of bankruptcy and resignation of the company’s founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. However, we will endeavor to update this article if the situation changes.

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All featured images are courtesy of TSM.