NBA mega star Kevin Durant has regained access to his Coinbase account, the crypto exchange giant confirmed to Decrypt via email on Sept 19. During a wider discussion of Durant’s business interests on Tuesday at CNBC’s Game Plan conference in Los Angeles, the player’s agent, Rich Kleiman, made light of his client’s inability to log into the account he opened nearly 10 years ago.
Since 2021, the 36-year-old Durant, who will play for the Houston Rockets this season, has had a deal with Coinbase to promote the brand. Kleiman, recently said at CNBC’s Game Plan conference in Los Angeles that the Phoenix Suns forward lost track of his Coinbase login details years ago, preventing him from selling.
Kleiman told the news outlet: “We’ve yet to be able to track down his Coinbase account info, so we’ve never sold anything, and this Bitcoin is just through the roof. It’s just a process we haven’t been able to figure out, but Bitcoin keeps going up … so, I mean, it’s only benefited us.”
Bitcoin traded between $360 and $1,000 in 2016. The flagship crypto now changes hands at more than $116,000, representing gains of over 11,000% from the peak price of Durant’s buying period. Kleinman said Durant first became interested in digital assets after a dinner in 2016 where teammates repeatedly discussed Bitcoin.
He added: “I just heard the word ‘Bitcoin’ 25 times that evening, and the next day, we started investing.” He did not disclose how much Bitcoin Durant purchased.Durant and Kleiman’s firm, Thirty Five Ventures, has worked closely with Coinbase, including a 2021 multiyear promotional deal with the exchange. Kleiman said the pair has been collaborating with Coinbase to resolve Durant’s account access, calling the exchange “a valuable resource in growing our business.”
Coinbase said customers can use self-service tools in its app to reset passwords and that its support team handles account recovery requests 24/7. Durant, a two-time NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist, is expected to make his Rockets debut in the upcoming season after a stint with Phoenix.
