NBA Star LeBron James To Launch Education Program With Crypto.com

LeBron James has partnered with Crypto.com to support educational and workforce development opportunities focused on cryptocurrency, blockchain and Web3.

The NBA legend announced a partnership between Crypto.com and the Lebron James Family Foundation to help students learn about cryptocurrency, blockchain, and Web3. The I Promise program includes a scholarship, the ‘I Promise Institute’, and a ‘I Promise School’ in LeBron’s hometown of Akron, OH.

The partnership comes with training opportunities and will be extended to families of the students. This is a result of the foundation’s holistic approach of focusing on children, siblings, and parents to build stronger families. Akron, Ohio is the city where LeBron James grew up.

LeBron James commented his motivation to form the partnership:

“Blockchain technology is revolutionizing our economy, sports and entertainment, the art world, and how we engage with one another. I want to ensure that communities like the one I come from are not left behind.”

The partnership will provide students and families connected to the program access to tools and educational resources about Web3. The LeBron James Family Foundation stated through a press release that James is creating a model to support the underserved.

LJFF’s “I PROMISE” program serves more than 1,600 students and their entire families with family programming and fundamental resources to help them be successful in school and beyond. Initiatives of the program include:

– I PROMISE School, which has created a new model for public education
– I PROMISE Institute, which provides resources for higher education and family supports
– I PROMISE Village that serves transitional housing
– I PROMISE Housing, offering long-term, affordable housing
– House Three Thirty, where job training and financial health programming efforts are explored

According to Crypto.com statement:

“Through this partnership, I PROMISE students and families will get a strong foundation in Web3 and the innovations behind blockchain-based decentralized applications powering the future of many sectors from finance to media to art.”

The foundation has not disclosed the terms of the deal, however, the partnership will continue for multiple years.

This latest deal shows Crypto.com’s continued investment in sports and entertainment to start the year, and also checks a philanthropic box given the program’s focus around financial education for youth, and broader community-building.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said: