Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, posted a photo of DJ Khaled wearing a Chelsea FC jersey branded with the company's logo on X. CEO Jeremy Allaire subsequently welcomed the rapper to team USDC in a separate post.
The posts did not announce a formal sponsorship or ambassador agreement. Circle is the official front-of-shirt sponsor for Chelsea, and DJ Khaled has previously appeared at the club through a separate partnership with Roc Nation.
The announcement triggered backlash from the crypto community on X. Critics highlighted DJ Khaled's history with the Centra Tech ICO, for which he was fined over $150,000 by the SEC in 2018 for failing to disclose a $50,000 payment for promotion.
The Centra ICO was later identified as fraudulent, with founders receiving prison sentences and being ordered to forfeit millions. While DJ Khaled was not charged with fraud, his involvement in the project remains a point of contention for industry observers.
