The zondacrypto exchange announced cooperation with the Polish Olympic Committee. This resulted in a huge and unnecessary “scandal”. Is it right?
The zondacrypto scandal
In October this year zondacrypto announced a partnership with the Polish Olympic Committee. This is not only about general sponsorship, but also the launch of the Team Poland token (TMPL) – the world’s first official token of the Olympic organization.
As announced by the president of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, this means double financial rewards for Olympic athletes – all thanks to an additional payment in tokens. Thus, for the gold medal, the athlete will receive PLN 500,000 (half in cash, half in tokens), for the silver medal – PLN 400,000 (PLN 200,000 in both forms), and for the bronze medal – PLN 300,000 (PLN 150,000 each, PLN 150,000 in tokens).
Despite the fact that it is a chance for Olympic athletes to earn more, the idea suddenly sparked controversy and even outrage. The letter signed by 15 people, including Otylia Jędrzejczak and Adam Małysz, stated that the contract was announced without the consent of the presidium and that the president exceeded his powers.
It’s easy not to get the impression that the matter is a bit political. Radosław Piesiewicz is associated with the PiS community, he was even taken into account when the party was looking for a presidential candidate.
Przemysław Kral explains
To explain the scandal, Przemysław Kral, CEO of zondacrypto, appeared on Mike Satoshi’s program.
We came as, let’s call it, a savior for the Polish Olympic Committee and we invested funds and contributed not only money and brand awareness, but also the idea and the entire ecosystem, the entire tokenomics, the entire idea of how to heal and remove fungus from Polish sport. And basically it is a self-sustaining perpetual motion machine. As I say, we are not asking for any donations and we do not want any support. And we got hit on the head
– he explained.
In his opinion, the person behind the scandal is “the man from TVN”, who accuses zondacrypto of only trying to whiten its image. It’s about a journalist who investigated the disappearance of Sylwester Suszek. According to Kral, this time he did not even ask for a comment on the “scandal”.
The CEO of zondacrypto added that the athletes themselves are delighted with the new initiative.
In other countries we would have a laurel
– he added.
Help for those who need it
According to Mike Satoshi, there are many pathologies in Polish sport: sports activists earn more from it, not the athletes themselves:
In football, the cake is big, and in Olympic sports, players have to earn extra money.
Kral pointed to other zondacrypto activities:
We joined the Polish cycling association. (…) We have introduced normality. Finally, it was possible (for the championship) to pay trainers, masseurs, and hire an additional cook
– Kral recalled.
According to Mike Satoshi, many activists may not like the fact that blockchain will introduce transparency in sports.
In the near future (the funds) will go to Olympic mothers who have nothing to live on
– said the CEO of zondacrypto immediately.
What exactly does the stock exchange want to achieve?
But what exactly does zondacrypto want to achieve? What’s all the fuss about? And this is where it gets most interesting, because when answering this question, you completely stop understanding the “scandal”.
The token will enable, among others: fan voting (e.g. choosing a mascot), sports crowdfunding, the already mentioned support for Olympic mothers, Olympic pensions, and double prizes.
It’s for athletes, not activists
– Kral emphasized.
In his opinion, the controversy was caused by the fact that the token price may fall or rise, which is – again – a strange argument, because the awarded Olympian can sell the tokens immediately. Of course, he can also leave them, hoping for an increase in valuation.
To sum up, the zondacrypto “scandal” about the Polish Olympic Committee is not a scandal at all. There are many indications that this is a political matter, but it also results from a lack of understanding of how blockchain works.
An environment that calls itself liberal should be more open. (…) Is reluctant to learn something new
– Kral concluded, referring to the environment that is attacking his stock exchange today.
