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Key Takeaways
- Algorand has rallied 15% after revealing its appointment of Michele Quintaglie as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
- Quintaglie boasts experience at some of the world’s top firms, including Visa, Fidelity, and Raytheon Technologies.
- Thanks to its partnership with leading soccer federation FIFA, Algorand is enjoying increased interest in the lead-up to the World Cup in November.
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Algorand is one of only a handful of cryptocurrencies in the green after the Federal Reserve raised U.S. interest rates by 75 basis points yesterday.
Algorand Defies the Market
Algorand has hired a new CMO.
The company behind the self-styled “sustainable blockchain” announced Wednesday that it had hired Michele Quintaglie as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Quintaglie joins Algorand’s new interim CEO, Sean Ford, after the firm’s previous CEO, Steven Kokinos, left the position in July.
Quintaglie boasts experience at some of the world’s top firms, including positions as Head of Communications at both Visa and Fidelity, as well as Head of Global Media Relations and Public Affairs at Raytheon Technologies.
Algorand appears to have reacted favorably to Quintaglie’s appointment. Since the news broke yesterday, the ALGO token has jumped more than 15%. It’s one of only a handful of cryptocurrencies in the green after the market’s reaction to the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis point interest rate hike.
However, despite today’s positive price action, Algorand is still short of its bull market peak. ALGO briefly reached a high of around $2.98 in November 2021 but has lost much of its value as crypto and stocks tumbled throughout 2022 in response to interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and worsening macroeconomic conditions.
Another Tailwind
Yesterday’s appointment of a new Chief Marketing Officer is not the first tailwind for Algorand in recent months.
In May, Algorand secured a partnership with the world’s premier soccer federation, FIFA. The ALGO token received a bullish boost after FIFA announced Algorand would become the organization’s official blockchain platform, helping it gain broader exposure.
Since the FIFA partnership, Algorand has enjoyed increased interest both from investors and football fans. Earlier this month, FIFA revealed “FIFA+ Collect,” a new platform that will allow football fans to own unique digital collectibles of the most iconic moments from FIFA World Cups matches. Per the recent partnership, FIFA+ Collect uses the Algorand blockchain to verify proof of ownership. The FIFA+ Collect marketplace went live Thursday, which may have contributed to ALGO’s rise alongside the recruitment announcement.
Elsewhere, other soccer-focused crypto offerings are also outperforming the broader market. Chiliz, a blockchain that lets users mint fan tokens for top European soccer clubs, has seen its native CHZ token soar in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup in November. CHZ is up over 183% from its June lows, while fan tokens for clubs such as F.C. Barcelona and Manchester City have also produced notable gains.
Whether Algorand will continue to benefit as the World Cup draws closer is not yet clear. With such an unstable economic backdrop, assets such as cryptocurrencies that occupy the far end of the risk curve will be most vulnerable in the event of a recession. Still, Algorand appears to be creating a solid foundation by bringing on top talent and forging major partnerships. As such, it will likely be well-positioned if the crypto market starts to recover in the future.
Disclosure: At the time of writing this piece, the author owned ETH, BTC, and several other cryptocurrencies.
