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In brief Crypto.com will co-present UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on June 14, marking America’s 250th birthday.
The exchange is creating a $1 million bonus pool in CRO tokens for fighters.
Ilia Topuria faces Justin Gaethje in the main event, which coincides with the crypto exchange’s 10th birthday.
Crypto.com will co-present a UFC combat sports event on the White House grounds June 14, commemorating America’s 250th birthday with the sport’s largest-ever fighter bonus pool, according to a weekend announcement from UFC and the crypto exchange.
The exchange will distribute $1 million to selected fighters on the UFC Freedom 250 card, paid out in CRO tokens. With CRO recently trading above $0.068, the pool currently represents nearly 14.6 million CRO tokens.
“This is the most historic sporting event in history, and it’s a night where every single fight has the potential to be Fight of the Night,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White, in a statement. “Crypto.com is giving fighters the biggest bonus in UFC history, with $1 million on the line. The world will be watching on June 14.”
The fight card features lightweight champion Ilia Topuria against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event, while former two-division champion Alex Pereira seeks an unprecedented third UFC title against Ciryl Gane. The event will stream on Paramount+ in the United States, and coincides with the crypto exchange’s 10th anniversary.
“I can think of no better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Crypto.com than by making history at the White House,” said Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com. “We are humbled to join our long-standing partners at the UFC and serve as co-presenting partner of Freedom 250—an event that transcends sport.”
The partnership between Crypto.com and UFC dates to 2021, when the exchange became the sport’s first Official Fight Kit Partner. The companies have also collaborated on official UFC digital collectables, aka NFTs, via the Crypto.com platform. UFC also has a blockchain tech partner in VeChain, and a licensed FIGHT token on Solana and BNB Chain.
UFC has also tapped prediction market giant Polymarket for an exclusive partnership, and over the weekend, one trader on the platform scored big on a “scoring error,” turning a $500 bet into a $252,000 win after noticing that an incorrect fight outcome was announced on the broadcast.
Crypto.com is already closely aligned with one of President Trump’s business endeavors, linking up with Trump Media & Technology Group for a series of crypto ETF offerings, as well as CRO integrations across the firm’s Truth Social and Truth+ platforms. The companies also teamed for a CRO treasury company, amassing large quantities of the coin, and a prediction market push.