Mark Cuban-Backed Unikrn Raises $31 Million in E-Sports Token Sale

E-sports betting startup Unikrn has raised roughly $31 million in an initial coin offering.

The firm collected 112,720 ethers – an amount worth approximately $31.4 million at press time – in a token sale that took place in two phases, including 56,000 ETH (roughly $15.6 million) in a presale backed by celebrity investor Mark Cuban. In an email, Rahul Sood, chief executive of Unikrn, said that the company had sourced contributions from 112 countries, characterizing them as "mostly small purchasers."

The ICO's completion also follows Unikrn's receipt of a gambling license in Malta, a significant boon for a company looking to apply the tech to the electronic sports betting space.

The idea is that Unikoin Gold, the token that was up for sale, will act as a common medium of exchange for bettors to use on the platform, which allows for placing wages on games like League of Legends, Defense Against the Ancients (Dota) and CounterStrike, among others.

Unikoin Gold is actually replacing a previous in-house virtual currency, dubbed Unikoins, that was used in conjunction with government-issued currencies on the site. The startup was founded in 2014 with backing from investors like Elisabeth Murdoch and Ashton Kutcher.

According to Sood, the coming months will see the release of additional applications to build on the Unikoin framework, including tools that allow users to garner more tokens.

"We have plenty of applications that allow users to use and earn tokens --- we will start to release them in November through February," he said.

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