Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, November 7th, 2024, Chainwire

• Sui establishes strategic partnership with UK-based fan engagement startup Trace
• Trace to launch its first marquee activation this month with the ATP Tour, getting Sui-based digital memorabilia in the hands of global tennis fans

Sui Foundation, the organization dedicated to supporting the growth of the Layer 1 blockchain of the same name, has today announced a strategic partnership with Trace, a technology startup on a mission to credentialize sports fandom. Through this partnership, Sui Foundation becomes a technology partner to Trace, further cementing its commitment to unlock value in sport and entertainment using the power of blockchain.

Leveraging blockchain technology and data-driven storytelling, “Traces” are digital memorabilia that capture the drama of sport. Fans claim Traces around sporting moments as markers of their commitment. In doing so, sports IPs and sponsors acquire and engage a previously unknown fanbase while elevating and recognizing the passion of their fans.

This month, Trace launches its first collaboration with a global sports IP, the ATP Tour. The Momentum collection offers tennis fans over the globe the opportunity to claim limited edition digital memorabilia for each of the 15 singles matches of the Nitto ATP Finals, which sees titans like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner clash for tennis’ biggest prize. Whether in the stands or watching from around the world, fans can now mark their engagement using Sui-based assets.

“This is a stepping stone towards recognising hundreds of millions of sports fans over the globe,” says Tareq Nazlawy, Trace CEO. “We chose Sui because we saw it as the best option to give fans the best experience: it’s fast and cost-effective at scale and its object-based architecture enables us to create playable experiences. Plus, having the energy and creativity of the Sui ecosystem on our side is like teaming up with the Avengers.”

With global engineering powerhouse Epam Systems on board, Trace is being built to leverage the very best of Sui: native zkLogin for easy onboarding, and Kiosk for full developer control. 

“Thanks to partners like Trace, Sui is building momentum in sports and entertainment as digitally innovative organizations seek to scale their fanbase and engage their global communities,” said Jameel Khalfan, Head of Ecosystem Development at Sui Foundation. “The ATP is one of the first global sports IPs to integrate Web3 and other emerging technologies into their tech stack to address real business challenges. We’re thrilled to be supporting Trace in their efforts to help pioneering rights-holders like the ATP Tour develop a more direct and enhanced relationship with their fans by leveraging Sui’s technology.”

Users can sign up now and claim their first Trace as part of the Momentum experience here: https://atp.trace.fan/  

About Trace

Trace is a technology startup on a mission to credentialize fandom. By helping sports teams, leagues, and sponsors engage and acquire their largely untapped fan base, Trace empowers organizations to connect with the 99% of fans who aren’t physically present at events. Leveraging blockchain technology, Trace enables the creation of digital memorabilia that captures the passion and emotion of sports, offering fans a unique way to engage with their favorite teams. Trace has been founded by industry leaders from adidas, BCG, Publicis, and Olympique de Marseille. To find out more, users can visit https://trace.fan/.

About Sui

Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the ground up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. Its object-centric model, based on the Move programming language, enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications with unrivaled speed at low cost. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain and a platform on which creators and developers can build amazing user-friendly experiences. For more information about Sui, please visit https://sui.io.

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