English Premier League football club Chelsea’s lucrative new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with a stablecoin issuer has left Hong Kong fans and retailers concerned about whether wearing or selling the top counts as illegal promotion under digital currency laws.
Chelsea signed the deal with Circle to feature its USDC stablecoin brand on player jerseys for the 2026-27 season in late August, just three months after the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned Premier League clubs about partnering with unauthorised crypto and finance businesses.
Circle’s UK arm, Circle UK Trading, is an FCA-regulated company providing certain financial services. But USDC is not issued or regulated under the laws of the United Kingdom, nor is it…
