Marshall Inu

Last updated
Marshall Inu
The Marshall Inu logo.png
CodeMRI
Development
Initial releaseFebruary 2022;5 months ago (2022-02) [1]
Development statusActive
Developer(s) Bryce Paul [2]
Website https://www.marshallinu.com
Ledger
Supply limit1 billion MRI
Valuation
Market cap US$ 9 million

    Marshall Inu token (ticker: MRI) is a cryptocurrency launched in February 2022 on the Ethereum blockchain, that offers financial aid to professional mixed martial arts fighters. [3] The organization has been supporting UFC fighters in their fight for fair payment, [4] [5] helping with medical treatments and training camps expenses. [6] [7]

    Contents

    History

    Marshall Inu was officially launched on February 10, 2022 as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain by a crypto developer using the pseudonymous Bryce Paul. [2] The cryptocurrency project first started as a satirical token originally named Marshall Rogan Inu, a mix between the Golden retriever of Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator Joe Rogan, "Marshall Mae Rogan" and the Shiba Inu. [5] Marshall Mae Rogan has a considerable fanbase on social media. [8] Fight fans quickly became confused about Joe Rogan's involvement in the project. [9] In an effort to avoid liabilities, the administrators removed Rogan from the project's name [10] shortly before the organization's website went offline leading to speculations of legal troubles for using the announcer's name. [11]

    In early 2022, the exchange price of the cryptocurrency increased by 262% in one week [4] and briefly peaked at $0.199/token in March putting its total market capitalization near USD $200 million. [9]

    On 11 March, 2022, Marshall reached a total of USD $800,000 distributed to MMA fighters worldwide including USD $25,000 to UFC Middleweight Ian Heinisch for medical treatment. [5] It later announced a partnership with Legacy Fighting Alliance giving every fighter on the card a bonus at LFA 126 in Brazil. [6]

    UFC 272

    On March 5, 2022, at UFC 272, Marshall Inu became the focus of interest after by being thanked by almost every fighter's post-fight victory speeches inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon, [9] [12] while being interviewed by Joe Rogan, the owner of the dog. [13] [14] Marshall Inu sponsored 20 out of 26 fighters featured on the card, [15] including both main event fighters Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. [6] Each fighters were paid thousands of dollars for mentioning the token, and two fighters received $25,000 each in bonuses. [5] The event took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Ukrainian UFC flyweight fighter Maryna Moroz defeated her opponent Mariya Agapova. Considering Moroz was fighting a fighter of Russian origin, fight fans were eagerly awaiting her post-fight speech. However, in the midst of moment, Moroz took the mic from Joe Rogan and thanked Marshall Rogan Inu. [16] With advertisers paying millions of dollars for UFC airtime, MMA experts have deemed the marketing stunt very unlikely to be reproduced again. [17]

    Fighters pay relief

    Marshall Inu designed a system to help MMA fighters get paid and mitigate the UFC fighters pay controversy by awarding fighters substantial monetary sponsorships. [18] [19] The UFC shares an estimated 16% to 22% of its revenue with fighters, which is significantly lower than others sports leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB which share approximately half of the revenue with their athletes. [20] In 2014, the UFC signed the controversial Rebook Deal which sparked considerable unsatisfaction among MMA fighters as it worsened their ability to monetize their personal brands. [21] The low wages for the average UFC fighters pushes many of them to keep a regular job when joining the promotion. [22] Many UFC athletes such as Francis Ngannou have reported difficulty paying for training camp expenses [23] [18] with UFC Flyweight Sarah Alpar even creating a GoFundMe campaign in 2021, in order to pay for her training costs. [24] In an attempt to negate the low wages in MMA, Marshall Inu launched their token in February 2021. The organization deployed the payment contracts which sends the funds generated through transactions to a marketing wallet and donates the funds to UFC athletes [25] [26] [27] as well as teaching them how to open crypto wallets enabling them to collect the sponsorships. [28] ESPN analyst and former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen referred to the cryptocurrency as a "game changer" in relations to its effect on fighters pay. [29] [3] In addition to UFC’s Fight of the Night and performance bonuses, Marshall Inu also introduced community bonuses handed out in Ethereum. [30]

    Medical treatment

    In March 2022, Marshall Inu granted UFC Middleweight fighter Ian Heinisch with the funds for his $25,000 stem-cell surgery in Mexico, [15] which is not currently legal in the United States. [10]

    At the occasion of UFC 272, UFC Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum was scheduled to compete, but was forced out due to a knee injury. [31] Marshall Inu assisted Gastelum financially following his meniscus surgery. [32]

    Criticism

    Marshall Inu's origin as a "meme coin" has made it difficult to be taken seriously by mainstream media and financial experts in early days, however, the project has been in fact distributing funds to fighters. The creators behind the project are anonymous, but were required to KYC, a regulatory rule referred to as Know your customer, for the token to be listed on cryptocurrency exchanges. [28]

    In March 2022, MMA Fighting Social Media Director Eric Jackman criticized the cryptocurrency on The MMA Hour, stating that he felt the coin was “selfishly motivated” adding “Why not just help the fighters? Why does it need to be a coin just give the fighter money?” Jackman said. [33] Following a 30% price drop, former UFC and ONE Championship fighter Ben Askren has also bad mouthed the price fluctuations of the token as well as suggesting it of being a pump and dump. [34] [35] Bellator MMA Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen explained on the MMA Fighting podcast, why he turned down a sponsorship from Marshall Inu stating that the cryptocurrency is a red flag, as it seems to be "building off hype", adding that the project is a meme coin with "no real use case" suspecting it might be a pump and dump. [12]

    See also

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    References

    1. ↑ Amaury Reynolds (23 March 2022). "MRI: The First of Its Kind To Support MMA Fighters, Lists on Coinstore.com!". Crypto Mode. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    2. 1 2 "Interview With Marshall Rogan Inu Lead Developer, Bryce Paul". Audio Boom. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    3. 1 2 Rafael Bandayrel (4 March 2022). ""They are owed a thank you" - Chael Sonnen shows gratitude towards Marshall Rogan Inu, a cryptocurrency named after Joe Rogan's dog, for helping MMA fighters". Sportskeeda .
    4. 1 2 Versha Jain (2 March 2022). "Why is UFC supporter Marshall Rogan (MRI) crypto rising?". Kalkine Media.
    5. 1 2 3 4 A.J. Perez (11 March 2022). "The Meme Coin That's Paid Out Over $800K to MMA Fighters". Front Office Sports. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    6. 1 2 3 LW (12 March 2022). "Marshall Rogan Inu: Joe Rogan pet dog's cryptocurrency paying UFC fighters". Marca Newspaper .
    7. ↑ "LBank Exchange Will List Marshall Rogan Inu (MRI) on March 14, 2022". Yahoo! Finance . 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    8. ↑ "Paulo Costa uses social media stardom to promote meme competition with $2k prize". Calf Kicker. 29 May 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    9. 1 2 3 "The MMA Cryptocurrency That Fighters Love". Financhill. 15 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    10. 1 2 Deepak Kumar (13 March 2022). "Marshall Rogan Inu, Joe Rogan-Inspired Cryptocurrency, Donated UFC Fighter Ian Heinisch for $25,000 Medical Procedure". Essentially Sports. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    11. ↑ Pranit Punjabi (13 March 2022). "Website for Marshall Rogan Inu, Cryptocurrency-Based Platform Inspired by UFC's Joe Rogan, is Down Amidst Speculated Troubles". Essentially Sports.
    12. 1 2 Mike Heck (10 March 2022). "We Got Next: Robert Whittaker, Adam Borics, Mads Burnell, Tim Elliott, and Johnny Eblen". MMA Fighting .
    13. ↑ "Marshall Rogan Inu Anyone?". MMA Frequency. 13 March 2022.
    14. ↑ Chael Sonnen (17 March 2022). "The story behind everyone thanking Marshall Rogan Inu at UFC 272..." Youtube . Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    15. 1 2 Violette Laurent (13 March 2022). "UFC: Marshall Rogan Inu: la crypto-monnaie du chien de compagnie Joe Rogan paie les combattants de l'UFC". Tech Tribune (in French). Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    16. ↑ "What's the Marshall Rogan Inu coin?". Calf Kicker. 6 March 2022.
    17. ↑ "MMA twitter reacts to Marshall Rogan Inu coin sponsoring everyone". Calf Kicker. 6 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    18. 1 2 Makoa Goble (28 April 2022). "What's the Best MMA Fighter Sponsor of 2022 So Far?". Overtime Heroics.
    19. ↑ Dinesh (31 March 2022). ""They've given out $2 million to fighters" – Chris Daukaus lauds Marshall Inu cryptocurrency". Media Referee.
    20. ↑ Bissell, Tim (2021-08-07). "UFC COO claims illegal streamers are taking money out of fighters' pockets". Bloody Elbow . Archived from the original on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
    21. ↑ Makoa Goble (24 October 2021). "The Story of the UFC-Reebok Deal, and Fight Gear Through The Ages". Overtime Heroics.
    22. ↑ Rafael Bandayrel (21 June 2022). ""It does get pretty rough" - Kevin Holland weighs in on UFC fighter pay". SportsKeeda .
    23. ↑ Andrew Whitelaw (13 October 2021). "Francis Ngannou unhappy having to borrow money for training camp". BJ Penn .
    24. ↑ Nolan King (1 July 2021). "Jake Paul, critic of UFC pay, makes donation to help MMA fighter". Yahoo! Sports .
    25. ↑ Jesse Holland (13 April 2022). "Khamzat Chimaev just bagged another $10k for beating Gilbert Burns at UFC 273". MMA Mania .
    26. ↑ "Marshall Inu (MRI) - Fighting for Fighters". Vestor Portal. 14 March 2022.
    27. ↑ "Top Ranked UFC Fighter To Be Paid In Bitcoin". Speak MMA. 22 March 2022.
    28. 1 2 "B-ROOTS: UNCOVERING THE MYSTERY OF MARSHALL ROGAN INU". Combat Press. 8 April 2022.
    29. ↑ "Money follows attention – Marshall Rogan Inu". Wicz. 7 March 2022.
    30. ↑ Ryan Harkness (10 April 2022). "Crypto cash out! Here's who won Bitcoin bonus money at UFC 273". MMA Mania .
    31. ↑ Aiden Broomfield (23 April 2022). "Kelvin Gastelum labels scheduled surgery "a success"; prepares to step back into the octagon soon". Sportskeeda . Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    32. ↑ Apratim Banerjee (31 May 2022). ""Stepped up in a huge way" - Kelvin Gastelum thanks Marshall Inu for providing financial assistance; shares knee injury update". Sportskeeda .
    33. ↑ "Marshall Rogan Inu wants Daniel Cormier's help with Cain Velasquez fundraiser". Calf Kicker. 16 March 2022.
    34. ↑ "Ben Askren trashes Joe Rogan-Inspired crypto Marshall Rogan Inu after 30% price drop". Calf Kicker. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
    35. ↑ Rohit Raj (9 March 2022). "Former UFC fighter & Jake Paul Rival Ben Askren Reacts to Joe Rogan-Inspired Altcoin Marshall Rogan Inu dropping by 30%". Essentially Sports.
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