Naomi Osaka — the Japanese professional tennis player, ranked as number 1 by the Women's Tennis Association — is now an ambassador for the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
What Happened: A Monday announcement reveals that FTX Trading Limited, and West Realm Shires Inc., the companies behind FTX.US and FTX.COM, respectively, signed a long-term partnership with Osaka.
The tennis champion, who is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles, will become an FTX ambassador, receive an equity stake in FTX Trading Limited and take compensation in cryptocurrency.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, will help FTX welcome women onto the platform and introduce them to the web 3.0 ecosystem, the company said.
See Also: Tennis Superstar Says Dogecoin Stoked Her Interest In Crypto Ahead Of NFT Foray
In a statement, Osaka recognized "the statistics about how few women are part of crypto by comparison" and said she believes that it "mirrors the inequality we see in other financial markets." For this reason, Osaka hopes that she will be able to help the cryptocurrency exchange "innovate on new ways to reach more people and further democratize the space."
Osaka would direct and produce content alongside FTX and her clothing is slated feature the cryptocurrency exchange's logo during the Miami Open.
FTX, which enables trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), will also donate to Play Academy — Osaka's charity created in partnership with Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) and Laureus Sport for Good. The organization aims to help change the lives of girls for the better through play and sport.
FTT Price Action: FTX's exchange token FTX Token (CRYPTO: FTT) traded at $45.74 as of press time, after seeing its value grow by nearly 2.75% over the last 24 hours.
Photo: Courtesy of Carine06 via Flickr
