Between Feb 7 and 11, 2019, the Second Annual Mammoth Film Festival was held in Mammoth Falls, California. The Litecoin (LTC) Foundation was the primary sponsor of the event. Winning filmmakers were rewarded with LTC and clothing sporting its logo.

The Litecoin Foundation’s marketing strategy appears to center largely on sponsoring events and developing partnerships to aid in the mass adoption and social integration of LTC.

Nonetheless, the Foundation’s initiative to re-brand the logo presented at Mammoth has caused controversy among the LTC community. Some have suggested that the Foundation is developing into a centralized authority over the community.

Sponsor and Partner

Litecoin has been developing sponsorships and partnerships with various groups and organizations for the past several months.

In July 2018, it acquired a partial stake in the WEG Bank in Germany as part of a partnership with TokenPay. Prior to the collaboration, TokenPay owned 9.9 percent of WEG Bank and transacted it to LTC in exchange for marketing and technology services.

In December of 2018, LTC entered into a partnership with Crypto Investor Summit, which hosts one of the world’s largest educational events on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The purpose of the partnership was to boost adoption of cryptocurrency and its development.

Later that month, the LTC Foundation became the first cryptocurrency sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The Litecoin logo was presented on the Octagon’s canvas during the highly anticipated second championship round between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustaffson on Dec 29. Following this fight, the Foundation announced that further sponsorships with the UFC were forthcoming.

In mid-Jan 2019, the LTC East Coast Team and LTC West Coast Team announced that they would be jointly sponsoring Ben Askren during his welterweight bout against Robbie Lawler. This fight will take place as part of UFC 235 scheduled for March 2, 2019.

The main event will feature a light heavyweight championship bout between Jon Jones and Anthony Smith. Charlie Lee, the creator of LTC, offered his support of this sponsorship but stated that the LTC Foundation was not responsible for it. He gave credit to the cooperation between the East and West Coast teams.

[bctt tweet=”Sponsorships and partnerships alone do not showcase the full or actual use-value of LTC. They merely raise awareness, which is necessary but not sufficient for mass adoption. Showcasing the currency as a currency will be necessary to get people to start using it.” username=”beincrypto”]

Controversy over Branding

Despite the successful partnerships that have been announced, the Foundation has faced controversy for changing the official logo with little input from the community. On Dec 30, 2018, the Community Manager of the LTC Foundation announced the forthcoming design changes. These were created in partnership with the Tokens Agency who created the new logo. Gashi presented the changes publicly in an article published on Jan 24, 2019.

Some in the LTC community expressed concerns that the LTC Foundation might have too much power. Decentralized cryptocurrencies like LTC are theoretically supposed to prevent centralized authorities from emerging. However, the LTC Foundation as a non-profit company was able to create changes to the logo with little input from the community.

It is also able to create partnerships that affect the image of Litecoin. While the Mammoth Film Festival sponsorship, UFC partnerships, and other collaborations may spread the LTC to new audiences, it is being done largely without the input or consent of the community which uses or invests in the currency.

Mammoth Film Festival

The sponsorship of Mammoth Film Festival follows a series of recent partnerships and other sponsorships by the Foundation, and is part of what appears to be a growing campaign for mass adoption. By partnering with banks, film festivals, sporting organizations, digital marketing agencies, and other organizations, Litecoin is able to reach new markets.

However, the collaborations alone do not showcase the full use-value of LTC. They merely raise awareness, which is necessary but not sufficient for mass adoption. Showcasing the currency as currency will be necessary to get people to start using it.

Do you think that the partnerships and sponsorships between the Litecoin Foundation and LTC affiliated groups will lead to the mass adoption of the currency? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!