TSM Addresses FTX Controversy, Says it is “Stable and Profitable”

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy in the United States amid a $8 Billion USD shortfall, following which multiple sponsorship deals including its deals with F1 team Mercedes, Major League Baseball, and Miami Heat collapsed. In the esports realm, North American esports organization TSM’s partnership with FTX also came crumbling down. In 2021, TSM and FTX entered a partnership where FTX invested $210 Million USD as part of a 10-year deal between the esports team and the crypto exchange. TSM released an official statement addressing FTX’s bankruptcy and the organization revealed that it is not aware of what led to its investor’s bankruptcy aside from publicly known information.

TSM’s official statement on the FTX controversy

TSM said on Twitter, “We are currently consulting legal counsel to determine the best next steps to protect our team, staff, fans and players. To be clear, TSM is built on a solid foundation. We are stable and profitable, and we continue to forecast profitability for this year, next year, and beyond. We look forward to a great year in 2023.”

As part of the partnership, TSM rebranded itself to TSM FTX. FTX Trading Limited and West Realm Shires Services had jointly entered the deal with TSM to promote their FTX and FTX.US cryptocurrency platforms through the esports organization. The cryptocurrency exchange was supposed to pay out $21 million annually for ten years and at the time it was one of the largest brand deals in esports history. With FTX filing for bankruptcy, it does not look like TSM will receive the amount that was promised to the esports organization. 

TSM has already started hiding the FTX logo from its official branding. Fortnite pros Shane “EpikWhale” Cotton and Nathan “Reet” Amundson both appeared on the official broadcast of the 2022 Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) Invitational in their TSM jerseys but fans noticed that the FTX logo was taped. 

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance was set to acquire FTX, but after taking a look at the latter’s books backed out of the deal. Binance reportedly decided that FTX had mishandled customer funds and that there are ongoing United States agency investigations ongoing against FTX as well which forced Binance to pull out from the deal.