Man City partner with crypto start-up who may not exist

[Wonder Pigeon]

Manchester City sign deal with mysterious cryptocurrency start-up | Manchester City | The Guardian

Online sleuths have this week turned their attentions to an unusual new case: the mystery of the Manchester City “decentralised finance trading analysis” partnership. Amateur detectives have been scouring the internet to find the digital footprint of a company called 3Key, who last week were announced by City as a new official regional partner.

While the club did not specify in their public announcement which region they were talking about, the location of their new partner was not the only thing unknown about the deal. Individuals named as 3Key executives on a recent press release do not turn up a digital footprint. The same applies to Ryan S Hodder, who is named as Chief Marketing Officer on the City statement and is quoted as observing that “practice, teamwork and passion are the foundations of success, and these values are in abundance at Manchester City.”


Investigative reporter Martin Calladine set online hares racing on Twitter on Monday when he charged people with finding Hodder or other executives named on a press release announcing the arrival of 3Key into the “decentralised finance” market a month ago. After 48 hours, the closest anyone has come to verified information is a photo of a man with a ginger beard in a checked suit who may or may not be 3Key’s “chief growth strategist’ Jacob Caine. City, despite requests, have not commented on the matter.


On Tuesday two websites associated with 3Key went offline. One of the sites returned on Wednesday with a slick design but enigmatic content. While the site says 3Key have been in operation since 2020, there is no mention of staff members or of products available to the public.

The site does, however, seem to suggest that 3Key are in the business of facilitating trade in digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFTs. The site also introduces the concept of CeDeFi, a combination of “the best of both” centralised and decentralised finance, “to make it simple for everyone to participate”.

In announcing the deal last week, City hailed the tie-up. Stephen Cieplik, the senior vice president of Global Partnership Sales, City Football Group, said: “We are excited to partner with 3Key in their journey to simplify the decentralised finance (DeFi) trading analysis user experience through the power of football to engage with our fans with a range of content and activations.”

City have been approached by the Guardian for comment but club sources have told The Times that the Premier League champions will not activate any products or services connected to the partnership unless they are happy that all relevant regulations have been met.

It's easy to consider jumping onto crypto as a fad but fair play to City for maintaining a connection to their key fan demographic: people who are difficult to find.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

@Murder on Zidane's Floor

 

[P-Ro]

Should we be expecting ********** to be partnering up with Manchester United any time soon?

 

[ashneel]

Thieving cnuts

 

[Withnail]

Should we be expecting ********** to be partnering up with Manchester United any time soon?

 

[Robertd0803]

Not like City to be doing any unusual sponsorship deals now is it?

 

[roonster09]

I'm surprised and shocked.

 

[Pexbo]

Should we be expecting ********** to be partnering up with Manchester United any time soon?

Within 2 years PCHF will have a bigger market cap than MUFC. Quote me

 

[tomaldinho1]

Should we be expecting ********** to be partnering up with Manchester United any time soon?

Woodward probably trying desperately to setup a meeting with OneCoin

 

[::sonny::]

Another crypto scam

 

[Santos J]

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[Hoof the ball]

They saw how SafeMoon was doing and decided to start up BlueMoon.

Shitcoin and shitclub.

 

[pascell]

It seems a few clubs use this way of sponsorship. Here's a comment I found interesting on the thread on Reddit about City and the mentioned sponsorship.

 

[Withnail]

I'm surprised and shocked.

I'm also shocked, and appalled.

 

[Withnail]

It seems a few clubs use this way of sponsorship. Here's a comment I found interesting on the thread on Reddit about City and the mentioned sponsorship.

There's a difference between a shady betting company which can't operate fully legally in China and a potentially fake start up, no?

 

[RUCK4444]

What does this even mean? That they have dodgy sponsorships? That’s standard for City.

If they don’t exist and can’t formally disclose how they are putting money in to the club then how does that help City?

 

[SER19]

there are still people who think this fake football club are above board

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s investigated and owned by the sheiks dog.

 

[pascell]

There's a difference between a shady betting company which can't operate fully legally in China and a potentially fake start up, no?

I think there's a comment I read somewhere that they're a Chinese company that have a European branch or something.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

It seems a few clubs use this way of sponsorship. Here's a comment I found interesting on the thread on Reddit about City and the mentioned sponsorship.

I can find a UK website, albeit a developmental one for HTH bet: https://www.hthbet.co.uk/

Moreover, its a new alias for another betting company, called Yabo sport and they appear to be in corporate transition, which might explain the confusion. However, considering nothing happens in China without the government blessing, a betting company could well be a money laundering operation for CCP officials.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

However, considering nothing happens in China without the government blessing, a betting company could well be a money laundering operation for CCP officials.

But at least it’s a REAL money laundering operation?

 

[Drawfull]

It's better than tripling ticket prices I guess. Or something.

 

[Oranges038]

These shell companies are all ober the place.

The real questions are.

What are they actually going to do for City? How much money is involved?

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

But at least it’s a REAL money laundering operation?

Yeah, at least the club owners are not laundering their own money.

 

[Brophs]

By the dip(shits)

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

If you are going to do something underhand, what better way than by using an environment with no rules.

 

[Fortitude]

They're caught at it again. Will any sanctions come from this? It's a rhetorical question as we all know the answer to that.

What a time to be a football fan!

 

[BuzzKillington]

These shell companies are all ober the place.

The real questions are.

What are they actually going to do for City? How much money is involved?

Probably as much as is required for them to hit their FFP targets if anybody decides to start enforcing it again.

 

[Adisa]

I smell a rat.

 

[tenpoless]

There are also PSG token, Roma token. No function outside of being a pump and dump scheme, using the clubs names to gain attention.
The tech behind crypto is neat. But the real implementation is it's 90% shit and the 10% that aren't still fluctuate like crazy making them not appropriate to be named as 'currencies'.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Should we be expecting ********** to be partnering up with Manchester United any time soon?

Nah, sadly sounds like ********** is too legitimate for this kind of thing. Needs to be shadier.

 

[roonster09]

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[MadDogg]

Whoops, we got caught. Better make a bullshit statement

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

Still makes me laugh when, despite the der spiegel (or was it footy leaks?) showing black and white evidence of City's fraud, their fans denied it all....

 

[UnitedSofa]

Whoops, we got caught. Better make a bullshit statement

Why does everything have to have ill intentions with Football fans these days? Like everything is not to be believed? Have we really become this so far gone that we’re cynical about everything and everything that’s said in a statement is not to be believed? Can City simply not make a mistake? Why does it have to have ill intentions behind it? Sad times we’re living in if we don’t believe anything at all

 

[sangria]

Over at Bluemoon, they're blaming this on "rags and dippers". Also claiming that United and Pool sponsorships are just as bad.

 

[therealtboy]

Why does everything have to have ill intentions with Football fans these days? Like everything is not to be believed? Have we really become this so far gone that we’re cynical about everything and everything that’s said in a statement is not to be believed? Can City simply not make a mistake? Why does it have to have ill intentions behind it? Sad times we’re living in if we don’t believe anything at all

A club as huge as City can't afford to be making mistakes like this. They have all the resources in the world, best legal team to man power to do proper due diligence on these kind of deals so excuse me if I don't believe they merely made a mistake.

 

[Random Task]

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How embarrassing for City

Looking forward to the day it all comes crashing down for them.

 

[Irrational.]

How embarrassing for City

Looking forward to the day it all comes crashing down for them.

We’ll be waiting a long time, especially after how they ended up humiliating UEFA.

 

[DavidDeSchmikes]

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