PSG announced the signing of a partnership with Crypto.com. A pillar of the cryptocurrency market which already has 220 million users worldwide.
The cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com joined the list of Paris Saint-Germain partners. The company does not hold the necessary approval to do sponsorship in France.
It is with great fanfare that Paris Saint-Germain announced Friday, September 10 the signing of a new sponsorship contract with Crypto.com. The cryptocurrency exchange, based in Hong Kong and with 122 million users worldwide, is one of the major players in the sector. According to L'Équipe, the contract would cover 25 to 30 million euros per season to advertise itself as “the official cryptocurrency platform” of Lionel Messi's new club. Except that there could be a regulatory “catch”.
According to the Consumer Code, “any sponsorship operation (sports sponsorship falls within this framework, editor's note) or patronage is prohibited when it has the object or effect of advertising, direct or indirect, in favor (... ) digital asset services ”. In order for Crypto.com to appear in France as a sponsor of the PSG, the company must hold an "authorization" as a Service Provider on Digital Assets (PSAN) issued by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF).
This one is very difficult to obtain and no company has ever had it. It differs from the simple, more flexible PSAN "registration" issued to 22 crypto companies so far. Crypto.com has neither, but PSG seem to have found a trick to claim the hefty contract.
Crypto.com invisible to French viewers
The Crypto.com logo was not visible to French viewers during the broadcast of the PSG-Clermont meeting on Saturday on Amazon Prime Video. Nevertheless, banner ads in the company's colors were visible to those watching the game via a foreign broadcaster, whose country was more tolerant of companies in the cryptocurrency sector.
“There was no visibility given to Crypto.com on the match in France, we use the Digital Overlay system which allows the content of the LEDs to be adapted to the broadcasters, explains a spokesperson for PSG, Crypto.com has thus been able to appear in the countries in which it is authorized ”.
Information confirmed by Eric Anziani, director of operations of Crypto.com: “While waiting for our PSAN application to be approved by the AMF, our logo at the edge of the field is only visible during broadcasts made outside France”.
“Technically, this technology allows us to sign what we call regional sponsors, that is to say partners who communicate in very specific territories,” continues the club. “For the club, it is an important potential source of income, because all the sponsors do not want to communicate in a global way,” he says.
It remains to be seen what the General Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) will say, because the Crypto.com logo is displayed among the club's other partners on its website. A source familiar with the matter told Capital that a legal analysis was opened to the AMF. But the club denies targeting the French public.
PSG indicates that the press release was written exclusively in English. In addition, the partnership was announced exclusively on the club's Twitter account for English speakers. The announcement of the partnership was not published in French on the official PSG.fr website.
Crypto.com had already been slapped on the fingers last March because it offered advertising to the French public without a PSAN registration. As a result, it was briefly placed on the AMF's blacklist until it announced that it intended to file a case with the regulator. Six months later, it has still not been validated. For William O'Rorke, partner at the Parisian law firm ORWL, specializing in disruptive technology law, "the announcement of the partnership with PSG could complicate the continuation of negotiations with the AMF".
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