Dennis Rodman and Potcoin: How Crypto Gatecrashed a Historic Summit

With all eyes on Singapore this week, was it any surprise crypto would make an appearance?

The historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un got the crypto community’s attention – and held it – thanks to Dennis Rodman and the notorious cryptocurrency that funded his travel to Singapore, potcoin.

CoinDesk reported on June 7 that retired basketball star Dennis Rodman was headed to Singapore for the Summit with the help of the marijuana-themed cryptocurrency. As a celebrity who have visited North Korea several times, Rodman’s trip was considered as “a celebrity twist” to the historical geopolitical event.

According to The Washington Post, Rodman was “in discussions with” the team behind potcoin last week to get financial support for the trip. He later officially confirmed the news on Twitter highlighting the fact his trip was sponsored by the group:

In fact, it is not the first time that potcoin has helped Rodman with his travels.

Just last year in June, the former Chicago Bulls star went back North Korea through potcoin’s sponsorship. At the time, the price of cryptocurrency spiked as Rod announced the news on Twitter in a “potcoin” t-shirt and a baseball cap.

Launched in 2014, potcoin claims it is “the first digital currency created to facilitate transactions within the legalized cannabis industry” on its website. By which, it means that it gives marijuana dispensaries and farmers an alternative to other financial institutions like a bank when they trade.

And that leads us to the day when we have Rodman, crying, on CNN from Singapore wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, and it makes the crypto world look no worse than ever.

Oh yeah, he was also wearing a potcoin shirt.

Good for potcoin?

Shawn Perez, a potcoin spokesman, told The Post that the trip would be a “peace mission,” but many suspected it was purely a trip to promote potcoin’s brand.

ESPN reporter Darren Rovell tweeted that the advertising Rodman garnered for potcoin in the moment was worth $4.1 million.

Though Virginia Heffernan, editor at WIRED, thinks the advertising would only have counterproductive effect. Potcoin is, after all, trying to disrupt payments (a real industry).

2018 jumps the shark?

For most of Twitter users, though, it was just a weird moment that is really, really, really hard to digest.

As it is now, the price of potcoin, which is ranked No. 315 on CoinMarketCap, spiked in the last 24 hours, according to ConMarketCap’s data.

Image via Twitter

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.