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NBA star Kevin Durant seems to know Bitcoin very well, so much so that he has invested in Coinbase in the past. With the recent listing on the Nasdaq, he has seen his assets grow even more.
Marketwatch reported that his investment has increased by 6,150%.
Kevin Durant has in fact invested in Coinbase with his Thirty Five Ventures. The investment was made in 2017 when Coinbase had opened a capital raise for a Series D investment (a funding round to support the company’s growth).
This was disclosed by reporter Joe Pompliano, brother of Anthony Pompliano:
Coinbase $COIN is going public today at a ~$100 billion valuation.
The interesting part?
Kevin Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman invested in Coinbase at a $1.6 billion valuation.
That's a 61.5x increase in valuation.
Winners win. pic.twitter.com/9ymgboKYb5
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 14, 2021
According to this tweet, Coinbase was worth $1.6 billion at the time of Kevin Durant’s investment. Today, with the listing on the Nasdaq, Coinbase is worth $100 billion.
It is unclear how much Kevin Durant invested in 2017, but it certainly paid off handsomely. The NBA star is no stranger to investments of this kind, and some say he even invested in the much-discussed trading app Robinhood.
Robinhood is considered one of Coinbase’s rivals for its ease of use, although the two apps are very different in terms of functionality and target audience.
About Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is one of the best basketball players currently playing. He plays for the Brooklyn Nets and is 31 years old.
However, this seems to be an unlucky season for him, marked by injuries and stoppages due to contact with Covid-positive people.
He is also known for his financial choices, as together with his manager Rich Kleiman he created Thirty Five Ventures with which he has invested in numerous startups and more, including Coinbase and Robinhood.
According to some, Kevin Durant’s dream is to have enough money to buy his own NBA team. Probably the success of the investment in Coinbase will allow him to start materializing this goal.
In the meantime, Coinbase is about to start its second week on the stock exchange. After a roaring start, with the price above $400 and then retreating, the start is set to be about 2% lower at $332.
Kevin Durant, NBA, bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
That of Kevin Durant is not the first case of a relationship between NBA stars and cryptocurrencies. In fact, in 2018 the Sacramento Kings took part in the Mining for Good programme in which they mined Ethereum for charity.
The Sacramento Kings were also among the first teams to accept cryptocurrency payments.
All in all, it certainly seems that the world of sports is getting closer and closer to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.