The popular football club, FC Barcelona, has canceled its deal with Ethereum-based top NFT marketplace Ownix. The deal was aimed to portray and honor 122 years of the football club and also, enhance the global exposure of the Club.
The NFT collection would include trophies from 95 domestic and international victories of FC Barcelona. The collection also included 26 national league and five UEFA Champions League titles NFTs. However, it seems that the deal has now fallen through.
The NFT collection was supposed to be launched in the first week of November but, there has been zero drops until now. The CEO of Ownix, Guy Elhanani, revealed that the deal also includes a few limited addition NFTs that will be released in the near future.
FC Barcelona canceled the deal
FC Barcelona canceled the deal with Ownix marketplace following the arrest of well-known Israeli crypto tycoon Moshe Hogeg. He was charged with crypto-related fraud and sexual assault. In a report by The Associated Press, it was reported that Hogeg has ties to Ownix, whose website is still promoting the NFT collection launch.
In light of information received today that goes against the Club’s values, FC Barcelona hereby communicates the cancellation of the contract to create and market NFT digital assets with Ownix with immediate effect.”
FC Barcelona said in a statement on its website.
As per reports from various outlets, the crypto mogul, who was behind many blockchain-based startups and the blockchain-based firm Sirin Labs, was arrested with seven other people who were his partners and employees. According to the statement in the local outlets, “eight suspects were arrested on suspicion of committing fraudulent offenses in the field of cryptocurrencies, amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels.”
Another post said that the Hogeg was arrested along with a family member at the office of the Premier League football club he owned, Beitar Jerusalem. His alleged ties with Ownix are responsible for FC Barcelona’s cancellation.