United Kingdom Bitcoin (BTC) funds adoption simply recruited a brand new participant. Oxford City Football Club appears to be like to change into the primary National League soccer membership to accept matchday funds in BTC when the season kicks off on Aug. 6.
Fans shall be in a position to buy tickets, foods and drinks at Oxford City’s RAW Charging Stadium with Bitcoin over the Lightning Network. Legacy fee strategies corresponding to money and card are nonetheless accepted.
Oxford City Football Club (OCFC) at present performs within the sixth tier of English soccer, the National League South. The membership struck a multi-year partnership with CoinCorner, an Isle of Man-based Bitcoin firm. CoinCorner shall be a back-of-shirt sponsor for the membership and launched a restricted version Oxford City FC Bolt Card to mark the event.
The Bitcoin brand on the again of the OCFC shirt. Source: CoinCorner
The Hoops, as they’re recognized domestically, will sport a BTC brand on the again of the matchday shirts as a part of the partnership between CoinCorner and the workforce. CoinCorner can be the official match sponsor for Oxford City FC’s (OCFC) opening sport on Aug. 6.
On the identical day, Peter McCormack’s pro-Bitcoin soccer membership, Real Bedford, will accept Bitcoin for matchday tickets. However, the Bedford workforce performs in a decrease, native league, the Spartan South Midlands League.
CoinCorner CEO Danny Scott defined that OCFC is the “first adopter of Bitcoin payments in the National League.” Scott continued:
“We believe this move will set a trend across Non-league and Football League divisions as digital currency establishes itself as the new normal for sports fans and event-goers across the U.K.”
Bitcoin advocate and Founder of OxBit, the Oxford Bitcoin meetup, Coach Carbon defined to Cointelegraph how the deal took place. In December 2022, OCFC hosted the Bitcoin Ballers Winter Cup pageant–a Bitcoin-centric footballing day trip.
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OxBit has since hosted varied meetups on the membership grounds and Carbon continues to advocate for Bitcoin adoption across the metropolis. Carbon managed a relationship with the soccer membership’s new business director and shared “numerous informal discussions about engaging and helping the community through events & education.”
“A three-way call was arranged and things progressed from there once the football club understood and could see the impact CoinCorner could make with regards to Bitcoin education and adoption.”
At the membership, Justin Merritt, Director of Football at Oxford City FC, defined: “More than 3.3 million people living in the U.K. now own Bitcoin – an increase of approximately one million people in the last year alone.”
Cointelegraph reported in June 2021 that, per an FCA report, up to 2.3 million Brits personal BTC, whereas a Coinbase report stretched that determine to as a lot as one-third of Brits are crypto-curious. Merritt continued:
“It’s not mandatory for people to engage with our new technology, but we believe in time, paying via Bitcoin will become the new normal in English football.”
Across the United Kingdom, grassroots Bitcoin adoption is rising, whereas Edinburgh appears to be like ahead to internet hosting a Bitcoin convention in October this yr.
