Premier league soccer team Manchester City is cutting ties with 3Key, a cryptocurrency startup. Both enterprises had spent less than a week working together after the team declared the firm an “official regional partner in decentralized finance trading analysis.”

Manchester City Says Goodbye to 3Key

Reports suggest that Manchester City is concerned given that 3Key is lagging an online presence. This could ultimately be because the firm is classified as a “startup,” and thus brand new to the world of U.K.-based business. However, there are other things that raise a few red flags.

According to an official press release, some of the executives associated with 3Key do not boast a “digital footprint.” In addition, two websites potentially tied to the company have also gone offline since the partnership was formed. A club spokesman for Manchester City explained in an interview:

Manchester City conducts due diligence in respect to all its partnerships. Manchester City’s partnership with 3Key Technologies has been announced but has not been activated in respect of any specific products or services in any part of the world. Prompted by the club’s interactions with 3Key Technologies in recent days, Manchester City is now conducting further enquiries regarding 3Key Technologies and the partnership has been suspended pending satisfactory resolution to all those inquiries.

Initially, Manchester City appeared pleased and happy about the partnership. Announced just last week, Stephen Cieplik – the senior vice president of global partnership sales for City Football Group – mentioned:

We are excited to partner with 3Key in their journey to simplify the decentralized finance (defi) trading analysis user experience through the power of football to engage with our fans with a range of content and activations.

At the time of writing, 3Key has remained silent on the matter and has not offered any comments.

While it is sad to see this partnership fail to work out, it can be argued that the worlds of sports and crypto are becoming much closer than ever. Not long ago, Perth Heat – a baseball team based out of Australia – pledged its intention to be the first fully bitcoin-based team of its kind. Executives of the team announced an initiative that would see all staff members and players paid entirely in bitcoin, while the team itself would add bitcoin to its official balance sheet.

Sports and Crypto Are Getting Closer

Patrick O’Sullivan –the chief bitcoin officer for the team – explained in an interview:

The Perth Heat is committed to operating according to a bitcoin standard, and in doing so, are shifting the corporate treasury from dollars to bitcoin. The club has already established an initial position in BTC to help secure its digital property rights on the world’s most secure monetary network and will continue to reinvest available capital into bitcoin.

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