The WhiteBIT Coin (WBT -0.51%) cryptocurrency is surging this week, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The native coin of the WhiteBIT crypto exchange rose 35% from Friday's market close to 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, boosted by another big-ticket sports club sponsorship.
Juventus players will wear WhiteBIT logos on their sleeves
This Monday, WhiteBIT became the sleeve sponsor and official crypto exchange of the popular Italian soccer club Juventus. The three-year deal sparked an immediate boost in WhiteBIT coin prices, along with lots of media headlines and social media discussions. Long story short, the Juventus partnership will introduce the WhiteBIT brand name to a large new audience, which in turn should be good news for the integrated cryptocurrency in the long run.
This isn't WhiteBIT's first high-powered sponsorship, or even its first agreement with world-class soccer clubs. The group already sponsors the equally well-known FC Barcelona club in Spain, and offers a co-branded Visa debit card linked to WhiteBIT's cryptocurrency accounts.
Image source: Getty Images.
How WhiteBIT is building its crypto empire from a European base
The WhiteBIT Coin is the closest thing to buying stock in the WhiteBIT company at this point, since it hasn't issued shares on any stock exchange. WhiteBIT has been around since 2018, headquartered in Lithuania but with main offices in Ukraine and lots of remote workers in other European countries.
WhiteBIT is one of the 30 most active cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Raising its international profile with sponsorships like Juventus and FC Barcelona could push this exchange to the next level, eventually competing on a global stage against the likes of Binance and Crypto.com. Again, that would be great for the exchange's own coin, which facilitates smoother transactions and interest-like staking functions on the WhiteBIT trading platform.
After this week's surge, the coin has now skyrocketed 421% in 52 weeks, punctuated by this Juventus contract and a pair of milestones reached in October 2024. The company signed up its 5 millionth customer and mined its 300th Bitcoin block that month. The FC Barcelona partnership has been around since 2022, and the Visa card provided a smaller boost to the WhiteBIT Coin.
The coin may be an integral part of a specific non-U.S. crypto exchange, but you can actually buy it on many of the leading American platforms. With a $4.3 billion market cap today, the WhiteBIT Coin looks like a promising international growth story -- but keep in mind that a foreign cryptocurrency isn't the same thing as an American stock. It's unclear exactly how WhiteBIT's emerging business profile might translate into crypto-coin price gains over time. Be careful with this idea, especially while prices are soaring like a rocket.