Crypto exchange Gemini has signed a five-year sponsorship deal with British football club Real Bedford, which is co-owned by the What Bitcoin podcast host. The club will receive payments in bitcoins.

The deal will be paid for upfront in BTC. The sponsorship comes on top of a $4.5 million investment in April 2024 from Winklevoss Capital, an investment firm owned by Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

As a result of the April investment, the Winklevoss twins became co-owners of Real Bedford along with Peter McCormack, who acquired the club in 2022. When asked why Gemini signed the new agreement, a representative of the exchange replied: it will allow the Gemini logo to be placed on the players’ jerseys and displayed along the pitch. Gemini and McCormack’s spokesman declined to disclose the amount of the sponsorship deal.

Gemini said the sponsorship deal would help the club build a new training centre and launch a football academy for disadvantaged children in the English town of Bedford, where McCormack lives. Real Bedford has fully integrated Bitcoin into its business operations, so players will be able to receive payments in Bitcoin, and fans will be able to pay for tickets and sporting goods in the cryptocurrency, Gemini promises.

In June 2024, Gemini agreed to pay a $50 million fine to the New York prosecutors, who accused the exchange of unauthorized launch of the Gemini Earn program.