Manny Pacquaio, the boxing champion, political heavyweight, and singer is launching his own cryptocurrency. Pacquaio announced the coin, “PAC,”–a reference to his boxing nickname 'Pac-Man'–to a 2,000 strong crowd at the Manny Pacquiao Live in Concert 2019, a free concert in Philippine capital Manila, according to a Reuters report Sunday.
With PAC, fans can buy Pacquaio’s merchandise at discounted rates, receive gifts, and interact with him through live streaming on social media.
PAC was first announced at a press conference back in June, but the concert is Pacquaio’s first major push to generate public interest in the coin.
PAC will be listed on Singapore’s Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX). According to GCOX’s website, it is a platform, based on the ACCLAIM blockchain, that lets celebrities and brands “develop, monetize and revitalize their popularity”. ACCLAIM is GCOX's indigenous blockchain platform.
Investors in GCOX include British football legend Michael Owen and Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of the family that rules Abu Dhabi, and pop star Jason Derulo.
“By having his PAC Tokens, [Pacquaio’s fans] become a privileged group who will have opportunities to connect with him on a whole new level,” said Jeffrey Lin, CEO of GCOX, a Singaporean-based crypto exchange marketed as a ‘disruption’ to the entertainment industry.
“While Senator Manny is busy serving his people, we hope to help him reach out to his fans and engage with them regularly,” said Lin.
Pacquaio isn’t the first boxer to invest in crypto. The boxer Floyd Mayweather got involved with an ICO for Centra Tech–a now known scam–which led to ‘Money’ having to pay a hefty fine of $614,775 for unlawfully promoting the initial coin offering. Pacquaio isn’t squeaky clean, either.
The former boxing champ was recently criticized by an anti-corruption watchdog in July for failing to respond to allegations of nepotism levied against his former colleague, ex-Senator Loren Legarda.
We know Pac Man was good at taking it on the chin in the ring, can he survive regulatory oversight IRL?