This NBA Team Will Start Accepting A Meme-Themed Cryptocurrency As Ticket Payment

Cryptocurrencies continue to rise in popularity as more companies start accepting them as forms of payment.  

Mark Cuban and his NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, have been accepting cryptocurrencies for nearly two years, but they are now the first organization to allow fans to use the meme-themed cryptocurrency known as Dogecoin to buy tickets and merchandise.

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Coindesk reports that Dogecoin was created in 2013 as a joke, but recently gained widespread popularity thanks to public figures such as Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg tweeting their interest in investing, causing the value of a single coin to, at one point, rise above that of the U.S. nickel. 

“The Mavericks have decided to accept Dogecoin as payment for Mavs tickets and merchandise for one very important, earth shattering reason, because we can!" said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

The billionaire believes accepting the cryptocurrency as payment will be fun and engaging for fans, and will "generate a lot of PR."

"So we will take Dogecoin, today, tomorrow, and possibly forevermore," he said. 

The Mavericks use BitPay, a cryptocurrency payment service, to process all transactions involving cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.

“BitPay believes that with continued cryptocurrency adoption, the industry is reaching an inflection point that will forever change consumer confidence, trust and pave the way for blockchain payments to disrupt the way consumers and businesses receive and spend funds,” said CEO of BitPay Stephen Pair.