Reuters Connect
- The NBA is reviewing Brooklyn Nets player Spencer Dinwiddie’s updated plan to turn his contract into a tokenized investment vehicle, Bloomberg reported Monday.
- Dinwiddie announced in a January 10 Twitter video that the digital bond would be released on January 13, and that if fans vote him into the NBA All-Star Game and fulfill his token offering, he’d give his teammates bitcoin.
- The player also revealed he’d take eight token-holders to the February game as “part of the Spencer Dinwiddie experience for token holders” if he’s voted in.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
The NBA is reviewing Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s revised plan to convert his contract into a digital investment vehicle, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Dinwiddie is looking to tokenize his contract and take an upfront payment, The Athletic first reported on September 12 on last year. The digital token would allow Dinwiddie to trade future income for a smaller payment and invest the sum immediately. Investors would be paid principal and interest, while facing the risk that an injury or league ejection could endanger the guard’s ability to pay back his bondholders.
The player’s tokens are sold through a platform named “DREAM Fan Shares.” The initial offering includes 90 tokens and a minimum investment requirement of $150,000, according to The New York Times. The platform’s website notes the tokens “will be launched on the Ethereum blockchain” and are only available to accredited investors.
The guard initially faced pushback from the NBA as the governing body disapproved of the deal, but the latest news suggests his plan may come to fruition.
“Spencer Dinwiddie’s advisers provided us with new information regarding a modified version of their digital token idea, which we are reviewing to determine whether the updated idea is permissible under league rules,” the NBA said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Dinwiddie, whose Twitter bio reads “Just a Tech guy with a Jumper,” announced in a January 10 video that his bond would launch on January 13. He referred to himself as “the guy that almost got kicked out of the league trying to do some fun stuff with his contract,” and revealed that, should fans vote him into the NBA All-Star Game and fulfill his token offering, he’d give his teammates bitcoin.
“Now when speaking about an All-Star nomination for somebody like me, I view it as a team award full of team success,” Dinwiddie said in the video posted to Twitter.
Dinwiddie would also award some of the investors holding his token should the two conditions be met. The player said he would to take eight fans to the All-Star Game as “part of the Spencer Dinwiddie experience for token holders.”
NBA Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dan Rube previously said the league reviewed numerous versions of Dinwiddie’s plan and found the token would “violate collectively bargained league rules,” according to a statement. If Dinwiddie’s contract securitization is successful, it could prompt other players to follow suit and change how the NBA views future contracts.
Dinwiddie told The Athletic in November that he doesn’t want to “go to war” with the association, and wanted to make the deal easier for players to make in the future. He also noted that such a token would be insulated from risk factors typically associated with investments, including market volatility and economic recession.
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