Barcelona cut ties with crypto business linked to Andrew Tate

Barcelona have announced that they will be ending one of their sponsorship deals after links to Andrew Tate were revealed. The Blaugrana announced the deal in November, and around six weeks later have decided to terminate the agreement.

The business in question, ZKP, were announced as Barcelona’s ‘global blockchain partner’, ahead of the launch of a new trading currency. The acronym stands for the term Zero Knowledge Proof, a theory that people can be convinced of something based on know other knowledge other than claiming that the idea is true.

Barcelona release statement on termination of ZKP contract

After facing backlash over the contract, Barcelona have responded by terminating the deal. The Catalan giants released the following statement.

“Regarding the recent reports about Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP), with whom FC Barcelona had entered into a sponsorship agreement making the company an Official Partner of the Club’s Cryptographic Protocol, FC Barcelona informs that:

Due to a breach of the agreed contractual conditions and after the Club’s Compliance and Legal departments carried out the necessary verifications and analyses, FC Barcelona has confirmed the existence of actions that do not comply with the terms and conditions established in the signed sponsorship agreement. Consequently, FC Barcelona has terminated the aforementioned contract.

The Club reiterates that it has no connection whatsoever with any token associated with said company, nor any responsibility or involvement in its issuance or management, and that these elements were not foreseen in the signed agreement.

FC Barcelona reaffirms its commitment to transparency, the protection of its institutional reputation, and the strict compliance with the agreements it enters into.”

It has been confirmed by Sport that the links between ZKP and far-right influencer Tate were the motive behind Barcelona’s decision.

JUST IN: Ronald Araújo will not feature in the derby or the Spanish Supercup at this time. The club intends to ease him back into the squad gradually. [@scapde_45] pic.twitter.com/Pg1ez5mRy6

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 31, 2025

Why Andrew Tate is damaging Barcelona’s reputation

Barcelona have made a point of defending a series of ‘values’ in recent years, something that directly conflicted with Tate’s ethos. The British citizen does not believe women are equal to men, and has also been charged with human trafficking, child trafficking, rape and sex with a minor in Romania, while in his native United Kingdom, he also has 21 charges against him for rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.

It is not yet clear if there is a link between Tate and ZKP financially, but the blockchain company had promoted one of Tate’s tweets on their Twitter/X account, appearing as their pinned tweet. Needless to say, Barcelona received significant backlash for running in the same circles as Tate.

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