Why Chelsea football shirts are making Hong Kong fans nervous about crypto laws
English Premier League football club Chelsea’s lucrative new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with a stablecoin issuer has left Hong Kong fans and retailers concerned about whether wearing or selling the top counts as illegal promotion under digital currency laws. Chelsea signed the deal with Circle to feature its USDC stablecoin brand on player jerseys for the 2026-27 season in late August, just…
The recent sponsorship deal between Chelsea football club and stablecoin issuer Circle has raised concerns among Hong Kong fans and retailers regarding the legality of wearing or selling the new jerseys featuring the USDC logo. The FCA has warned Premier League clubs about partnerships with unauthorised crypto and finance businesses, and the HKMA has warned that it will be illegal to actively market unlicensed fiat-referenced stablecoins to the public.
However, the HKMA has not issued clear guidelines on whether wearing the shirt constitutes promotional activity. Fans and retailers are uncertain whether they could be breaking the law, and blockchain expert Louis Li Sze-chung has expressed concerns that fans donning the new Chelsea shirt in public could also be problematic.
Brief written by urgent.news from SCMP Tech's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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