Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map

Buying a small-town shot nine with the purpose to propel it into the Premier League — the world’s astir fashionable shot league — is simply a publication suitable for a Netflix series.

In fact, histrion Ryan Reynold’s bid to revitalize lower-league Welsh shot squad Wrexham FC has already caught the attraction of Disney+ writers. 

It’s a quaint, quintessentially British underdog communicative of however an ultra-rich Hollywood histrion tin bash thing antithetic with his wealth. However, Reynolds has nary transportation to Wrexham; helium flies successful for astir games, and he’s improbable to unrecorded retired the remainder of his days gathering retired the deprived historical mining town.

McCormack holding a trophy.

In the Bitcoin world, Peter McCormack is simply a acquainted face, hosting the astir fashionable podcast What Bitcoin Did. According to the Guardian and the BBC, helium is a blogger and “crypto guru” invariably betting connected Bitcoin 

Over the past 2 years, helium has strived to crook astir the beleaguered Bedford FC by utilizing Bitcoin. Real Bedford reached promotion successful May, buoyed by caller uniforms, caller logos and, crucially, a caller legion of fans. 

However, Real Bedford is besides what McCormack calls the “Bitcoin shot team.” Not lone does helium execute his boyhood imagination of moving a palmy shot team, but it besides seeks to discretely promote fans and onlookers to prosecute with the world’s largest integer currency, Bitcoin. 

But does the nine person the legs to marque it into the Premier League? And what’s the constituent of putting the Bitcoin logo connected the shirt, hosting Bitcoin meet-ups earlier each game, and inviting cardinal sentiment leaders of the Bitcoin satellite to games? And what connected world indispensable the locals deliberation of the “orange-pilled” takeover?

McCormack bought Bedford FC successful 2021 during the heady highs of the bull tally erstwhile BTC was comfortably supra $40,00 and speech of the Bitcoin terms hitting six figures dominated Cointelegraph headlines. Propelled by the precocious Bitcoin prices, the nine secured fractional a cardinal dollars successful sponsorship for the archetypal year. 

Despite buying the nine being a boyhood dream, astir radical thought McCormack was huffy to instrumentality connected the moving of a shot nine with the fanbase garnered from a volatile integer currency: 

“I deliberation this is 1 of these projects whereby I don’t deliberation anyone truly understood astatine the start. They’re like, ‘Whatever doesn’t marque immoderate sense.’”

Local media thought McCormack was crazier still. The BBC and different British mainstream media caught upwind of the story, characterizing it arsenic the latest crypto bro to splash retired connected a self-indulgent purchase.

Jeff Booth, the writer of the Bitcoin publication The Price of Tomorrow, tells Magazine that adjacent if it is simply a affluent Bitcoin capitalist splurging connected a passion, it’s a non-issue — peculiarly arsenic Bitcoin is portion of the project: 

“Through his interests, helium infects others done truthful different radical that similar football. Other radical that privation to travel his interests to instrumentality this to a championship, Premier League and everything else, present person an content that they tin articulation the thrust and beryllium portion of it.”

Ultimately, Booth explains, “I couldn’t attraction little what helium wants to bash […] He’s utilizing this conveyance to beryllium capable to beforehand a full clump of different stuff, which is truly cool.”

Despite the captious attraction successful the media, 2 years on, McCormack and his squad are inactive wiping down tables successful the clubhouse bar, traveling to distant games, hosting Bitcoin meet-ups and adjacent washing the Real Bedford’s uniforms successful his location — each portion the terms per BTC has crashed and Bitcoin continues to instrumentality a beating successful fashionable media. Plus, the nine volition athletics a women’s team with plans to grow into disabled and younker teams.

Real Bedford commentator Will Roberts compares McCormack to a “pantomime villain […] who benignant of comes successful and radicalizes everything, changes everything, and everyone automatically goes against it.” It’s lone earthy that it ruffles a fewer feathers: 

“But the person you get, the much you recognize what a bully idiosyncratic helium is and what a bully enactment he’s moving due to the fact that it is an enactment — not conscionable a shot club.” 

Bitcoin branding

The club’s Bitcoin branding isn’t precise subtle. The strips are agleam orangish with the Bitcoin logo connected the abdomen. The nine was established during a artifact tallness arsenic opposed to a date, and astir everything tin beryllium bought oregon paid for successful satoshis (small amounts of Bitcoin). Why bother? Why spell to large lengths to advertise a volatile integer currency that’s understood by a prime radical of Brits? 

McCormack is simply a marketer by profession, and Bitcoin is 1 of the astir recognizable brands worldwide. There are present Real Bedford supporters clubs successful Ghana, Tanzania and adjacent Malaysia. The protagonist basal for Real Bedford rivals teams 5 divisions higher, and matches are live-streamed and enjoyed by Bitcoin advocates worldwide.

Satoshi’s sanction and a motion to the maximum fig of Bitcoin, 21 million, connected the team’s kit.

Gandalf (not his existent name), who is portion of the selling squad astatine Bitcoin mining institution Braiins, tells Magazine:

“If you conscionable bought Bedford and called it Bedford and it was conscionable the section team, we wouldn’t each beryllium here. Like, he’s been precise clever astir making it a Bitcoin happening and past that gets caller enactment and caller attraction into the club.”

A section elected councilor for the Liberal Democrats, Jake Simpson attends the past crippled of the season. He explains to Magazine that, acknowledgment to the Bitcoin takeover, Bedford is gaining “international attention, which is bringing planetary money. And you know, erstwhile your concern and you judge cryptocurrencies, your lawsuit basal expands massively.” 

“You know, you’re attracting much people, which is wherefore there’s truthful galore planetary radical present already due to the fact that they’re funny successful cryptocurrency — they’re funny successful Bitcoin, which is bringing them present to Bedford.” 

Bitcoin puts places connected the satellite representation — from Bitcoin Beach successful El Zonte to Bitcoin Lake successful Guatemala oregon Bitcoin Jungle successful Costa Rica. In doing so, it tin rise up little economically advantaged communities and regions astir the world. That’s the 2nd portion of the Real Bedford story, arsenic McCormack says helium wants to “raise up his town.”

What bash the locals think?

Over the people of 30 thoroughfare interviews conducted successful Bedford, the overarching sentiment toward Bitcoin is negative. One Christian preacher says that the surveillance constituent to integer currencies was unnerving — earlier realizing that helium mightiness beryllium confusing CBDCs, oregon cardinal slope integer currencies, and Bitcoin. 

There’s a immense sentiment spread betwixt the Bitcoin believers and the Bedford locals. One Bedfordian simply says, “Avoid”; others telephone it an outright scam and that they wouldn’t privation to suffer their wealth successful specified a scheme. Some locals person heard of the Real Bedford takeover; others knew of McCormack’s story. 

Few locals tin accurately explicate what Bitcoin is oregon what it does — highlighting that immoderate of the disapproval could travel from a presumption of ignorance oregon an unwillingness to prosecute with the currency often labeled a menace to the situation oregon a “dark tool” by mainstream media. 

McCormack is alert of the antagonistic views that cloak Bitcoin. There is nary tendency to “force Bitcoin” onto the radical of the municipality — it’s astir utilizing the squad arsenic a Trojan equine for greater levels of Bitcoin adoption:

“I don’t privation radical buying it and losing wealth and don’t unit it connected radical who travel to the ground. They tin spot it, they tin travel to our meetups, but it’s a brushed touch.”

The Real Bedford website, for example, shows a connection saying, “Why you shouldn’t bargain Bitcoin.”

Real Bedford’s reasons not to bargain Bitcoin.

Some of the locals are converts, however. Sampson says, “It’s large to spot Bitcoin travel into my municipality […] It’s massive, and it conscionable makes maine consciousness truly arrogant to beryllium from Bedford and makes maine truly excited, to beryllium honest.”

“I deliberation they’ve inactive got to beryllium a batch of acquisition astir it. On how, you know, my ma oregon my dada tin spell to a java store and bargain Bitcoin. They wouldn’t consciousness comfy astir doing that yet. But that benignant of happening happening successful the municipality tin lone boost an system successful a way.”

What’s the people truthful far? 

As opposed to bleating astir Bitcoin to Bedfordians, McCormack has firmly stuck a emblem successful the crushed and called Bitcoin advocates astir the satellite to visit: 

From the trunk of a car successful the Real Bedford parking lot, Chris Gordon of Bitcoin payments work Bridge 2 Bitcoin shows a section Bedfordian however to judge Bitcoin. He tells Magazine:

“So, it was a concern proprietor who’s funny successful accepting Bitcoin payments, and it’s a wholly caller conception to him. So, it truthful happens that I hap to person a point-of-sale instrumentality successful the backmost of the car.”

Gordon talks the section instrumentality done the options successful the anticipation that a “few businesses successful Bedfordshire commencement to judge Bitcoin soon.” Bitcoin is already the outgo of prime successful the clubhouse, and for Real Bedford merchandise — and fixed that paying successful Bitcoin looks antithetic from paying with Visa oregon currency — it tin rise immoderate eyebrows. 

Moreover, the mingling of some Bitcoin and shot fans successful a relaxed, pitchside situation is an accidental for those unfamiliar with the cryptocurrency to inquire questions. Matches tin beryllium long, drawn-out affairs of 0-0 draws lasting 90 minutes with a 15-minute break. Asking astir the elephantine B connected the players’ shirts oregon the information that the nine was founded astatine a artifact tallness — not connected a day — could walk the time.

Crypto ain goal?

Commentator Roberts, who knew “nothing” astir Bitcoin anterior to moving astatine Real Bedford, explains that the radical of Bedford are “getting there.”

“A batch of radical are made further alert of perchance the differences betwixt not conscionable grouping cryptocurrencies tougher — and that Bitcoin is decidedly a abstracted entity to that.”

The crypto distractions astatine the nine are sponsors. Gemini, Casa and different crypto institution logos are displayed connected billboards astir the stadium, which McCormack hopes to grow and renovate done Bitcoin sponsorship. Despite his devotion to Bitcoin, he’s alert that taking vantage of the speculation successful crypto could payment the club:

“If I did a shitcoin, I could rise a billion, and I would get this nine successful the Premier League successful 9 years due to the fact that you person the wealth to bash it. I could physique a 200-million-pound stadium if I did a shitcoin. It’s truly tempting.”

Ultimately, Real Bedford is simply a Bitcoin-only club. McCormack only holds Bitcoin and is focused connected gathering Bedford with Bitcoin successful mind. However, getting Real Bedford into the Premier League is simply a long-term, possibly lifelong commitment. With the archetypal promotion retired of the way, it’ll beryllium the 2030s earlier Bedford has a squad successful the astir prestigious shot league.

McCormack shares. a gag with Cointelegraph.

McCormack’s undeterred, however. “I’m going to beryllium present for the remainder of my beingness present successful Bedford astatine each crippled I tin perchance beryllium astatine trying to assistance up my town.” And the mode to get this lower-league squad into the Premier League? 

“It requires hard work, a spot of luck and for Bitcoiners to get down it.”