How the legendary tennis player Serena Williams is connected with the Coinbase exchange, in which tokens did the actor Ashton Kutcher donate, and who invested in the online broker Robinhood, except for the musician Jared Leto
Many stars invest in cryptocurrency, some even launch a currency named after themselves. For example, Margot Robbie with a glass of champagne told about the economic crisis from a bubble bath. In fact, the blonde has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies. The video is just an episode of the Comedy "the Big Short". But the scammers did not miss their chance to use the star as bait. Fraudsters created a website "Margot Robbie Bitcoin Evolution" and published an interview where Margot Robbie allegedly advertises a new way to earn money on the cryptocurrency, which will make everyone a millionaire.
But there are also stars who are really invested in digital money. And they make money on it.
Ashton Kutcher: from actor to investor
Kutcher is a long-time cryptocurrency fan and investor. In 2010, he invested in the eSports startup UnikoinGold and co-founded the a-Grade investments venture Fund. The company's portfolio includes shares of Spotify, Airbnb and Uber, as well as BitPay. Later, the actor spoke at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2013 conference. Kutcher said that bitcoins are becoming more popular, and he was not mistaken. The rate of the first cryptocurrency has exceeded $9000, BitPay shares are becoming more expensive every day.
But not a single bitcoin. In 2018 Ashton and his partner guy Ozeri made a donation to the wildlife Foundation of TV host Ellen DeGeneres. A $4 million donation was made to XRP. At the moment, it is the fourth most capitalized coin on the market, post BTC, ETH and USDT. Kutcher and Ozeri jointly own the Sound Ventures Fund and invest in Ripple through it.
Recently, the actor caused a stir by calling Loll a promising project on Twitter. This is a new York startup that allows you to receive monetary rewards in bitcoins in exchange for purchases in partner stores. To receive cryptocurrency, users just need to install a free extension for the Chrome browser and register. The Lolli chain has more than 500 stores.
Lolli co-founder Alex Adelman announced the launch of the project in August 2018. In November of the same year, the company raised $2.5 million in investments. However, Kutcher was not listed as an investor at the time.
The sensation happened on may 11, 2020. Lolli reports on foreign investments in the amount of $3 million. Investors include the aforementioned Kutcher and Ozeri Foundation Sound Ventures, beauty influencer Michelle Fan, and others.
Serena Williams family investments
Serena Williams, unlike Kutcher, did not advertise her crypto activities. On April 17, 2019, the tennis player published information about the Selena Ventures Fund she created on her instagram account. It turns out that Serena founded the Fund back in 2014 and regularly invested millions of dollars in various projects, including the leading crypto exchange Coinbase. The official website of the Fund says that the total capitalization of the portfolio is more than $12 billion.
Serena's husband, Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the Reddit portal, also supports cryptocurrency. He became one of the first investors in Coinbase, which is supported by his wife. Ohanyan says that he invested in Coinbase in 2011. In may 2020 Ohanyan predicted the "crypto-currency" and emphasized that he does not plan to stop investing:
"Part of my fortune has been in cryptocurrency for a long time, and I like it. I don't want to change that."
Charity of Madonna and Ripple
Madonna uses the cryptocurrency in order to donate. The singer's Foundation, Raising Malawi, has been helping orphans in Malawi since 2006. And in 2018, shortly before her 60th birthday, the singer entered into a partnership with Ripple to raise funds for the Foundation. Of course, the collection was carried out in cryptocurrency.
"We are honored to be part of Raising Malawi's excellent work with disadvantaged children, and we are grateful to our Sound Ventures investors for introducing us to such an important case," said Eric van Mittenburg, head of global operations at the company.
Apparently, this charity event was a gesture of goodwill on both sides. Skeptics asked Ripple CEO brad Garlinghouse whether the company paid Madonna for the ad. Garlinghouse replied that the only reason for supporting Madonna was good intentions.
Snoop Dogg's Cryptocurrencies
Also, the famous rapper Snoop Dogg collaborates with Ripple. In 2018, he performed at the XRP Community Night blockchain party. This was not the rapper's first experience working with crypto companies. For the first time, the name of Snoop Dogg was associated with cryptocurrency in 2013. The singer posted a tweet where he offered to buy his new album X for bitcoins. At first, everyone thought that this was another joke of the rapper, but after retweets from BitPay and Coinbase, it became clear that the offer is quite real.
In 2017, Dogg became an investor in online broker Robinhood. The company strives to make getting tokens as easy as ordering a taxi. Along with the rapper, Jared Leto and mark Andersen became investors.
Celebrity and industry growth
Investing in cryptocurrency is profitable for the stars and crypto companies themselves. The win-win principle applies here. Investment by stars increases the recognition and popularity of tokens: people follow their idols, no matter what they do. In turn, investors increase their wealth by playing on the growth of cryptocurrencies and stocks.
Celebrities try to invest wisely, because not only their money is at stake, but also their reputation. But so far, the cases of Ashton Kutcher or Serena Williams are only exceptions. More often, celebrities sign contracts with startups to become their face or brand Ambassador, rather than an investor., as did, for example, Steven Seagal or Akon.
