The Dinwiddie Debate: Will blockchain lead to a tokenized future that unlocks new revenue opps for athletes?

By Tonya M. Evans (Nov. 6, 2019)

In September 2019, Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie announced his plan to convert his employment contract into a tradable financial asset. The Atlantic first broke the story on September 12, 2019.

Market’s Insider reported:

Dinwiddie will securitize his NBA contract as a digital token, sources told The Athletic. The extension would bring him more than $34 million over a three-year period, but sales of the digital token would allow him to raise a significant portion of that sum upfront.

Sports Illustrated legal analyst and UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law Professor Mike McCann, wrote an in-depth article about Dinwiddie’s move to tokenize his contract and transform it into an investment contract represented by cryptographically-secured security tokens.

McCann aptly notes the” details of Dinwiddie’s idea are intricate and rely on terminology unfamiliar to many, explaining further that, “[t]he larger picture centers on a much more relatable concept: athletes identifying new ways to maximize their earnings during relatively short and one-injury-away-from-abruptly-ending careers.”

I added my thoughts about Dinwiddie’s application of Web 3.0 technology to a familiar desire of professional athletes to create multiple revenue streams that outlast the short span of their earning potential in the pros:

Read the full article here

We know what the NBA said. Hard pass. But what do you think? Are tokenized investment contracts for professional athletes a NO or a GO?

Dean Evans delivers Blockchain for Law Professors Webinar for AALS Summer Series

AALS-webinar-screencapture

Tonya-SXSW-49190This session, Educating Law Professors about Blockchain, is intended to introduce you to the technology and terminology and to highlight some prominent and promising use cases in education, generally, and legal education in particular. And also, at a more fundamental level, to encourage you to consider the vital and essential role of technology in the classroom and curricula at every level of education.

There are two basic ways that we, as educators, must be prepared for this latest technological wave of innovation. The first is to educate ourselves so that we can empower our students. The second is to understand how the technology is poised to disrupt, disintermediate and transform the education industry in some really exciting ways.

About the AALS Webinar: What Professors Need to Know About Blockchain

So about last week … The Enterprise Blockchain Awards at #BRG2019 were magic! Big win for #UNHLawBlockchain

Honoring the foremost thinkers, leaders, and builders in enterprise blockchain technology, the Enterprise Blockchain Awards (EBA), held during the Blockchain Revolution Global 2019 Conference, unveiled the winners at a gala ceremony in downtown Toronto. Bringing together the brightest and best of the international community, the ceremony featured a special performance by award-winning musician and technologist Imogen Heap and hosted by comedians Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath.

The judges were overwhelmed with the unanticipated number of nominations. Many categories were hotly contested. In fact, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, head of the EBA judging panel, noted “we were  very happy to have received over 100 nominations from around the world.”

The Awards Panel assessed nominations in five categories: New Frontier in Enterprise Blockchain Research, Innovative Entrepreneurship in Blockchain, Young Leaders, Enterprise Blockchain Transformation, and Blockchain Leadership. The latter, the category for which I received the EBA, honored “an executive who has championed blockchain for their industry.”

My nomination was based on my work to develop, direct, and teach in the University of New School of Law’s Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Law online professional certificate program.

The program launched Spring 2019 and was the first of its kind to offer a comprehensive certificate that includes Blockchain and the Law Fundamentals, Tokenomics & Crypto Regulations, Data Privacy & Data Integrity, Smart Cities, Blockchain for Social Impact, as well as coverage of blockchain law issues in sports, entertainment, and healthcare use cases.

For more information and to register for the fall session, visit law.unh.edu/blockchain.

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The 2019 winners are:

Blockchain Leadership

This category honors executives who have championed blockchain for their industries and organizations:

Enterprise & Industry Leadership

Dale Chrystie, FedEx

Governance & Policy Leadership

Tonya M. Evans, University of New Hampshire School of Law

Community & Ecosystem leadership

Bernie Moreno, Ownum

[See the full list of Enterprise Blockchain Award Winners and categories]