Will Manny Pacquiao succeed where Floyd Mayweather failed? The Filipino boxer hopes PAC Token cryptocurrency will be a knockout

Sep 2 , 2019

Floyd Mayweather Jr (left) exchanges punches with Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout, May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the US. Photo: AFP

Filipino WBA welterweight champion launches digital currency at Sunday’s free Manila concert and hopes fans use it to buy merchandise and interact with him on social media

Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao has launched his own cryptocurrency, the PAC Token.

The 40-year-old, who is also a Philippine senator, hosted a free concert in Manila on Sunday, where he reportedly sang to his fans to help attract interest in his cryptocurrency.

He hopes his fans will use the PAC Tokens to buy his merchandise and interact with him via social media and that it proves a success – unlike the cryptocurrency involvement of his one-time rival in the boxing ring, American Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

Pacquiao’s venture is the latest development in the world of cryptocurrency – a system of electronic money that is used for buying and selling online and without the need for a central bank.

In 2017, the price of bitcoin and its sister digital currencies exploded, but then crashed. It was one of the most remarkable financial bubbles in recent memory.

Boxer Manny Pacquiao hosted a free concert in Manila on Sunday, where he reportedly serenaded 2,000 fans with songs from his own album to help attract interest in the launch of his cryptocurrency, PAC Token

While the market has stabilised since that year, one positive outcome is that cryptocurrencies – and specifically the industry’s most famous brand, bitcoin, have entered the mainstream.

When researching celebrities who have invested in bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, the question is not “who has invested?” but rather “who has NOT invested?”. Which is why STYLE took it to the next level:

We wanted to find celebrities who are deeply involved in cryptocurrency. Some have launched their own coins, one is involved in mining and a pair of twins have built a wildly successful exchange company.

Digital currencies such as bitcoin (above) have now entered the mainstream, with many celebrities investing in them, or launching their own coins. Photo: Icons8/Unsplash

At this point, we probably need to explain the difference between the terms bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

Think of the two words like squares versus rectangles: a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, but cryptocurrency is not bitcoin. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies across the internet, but bitcoin is easily the most important and it drives the market.