International tournament operator BLAST announced this week that it has partnered with crypto wallet Nova Wallet for five Counter-Strike 2 esports events in 2025.
Financial terms of this new partnership were not disclosed.
Nova Wallet’s first stop as a partner will be the BLAST.tv Austin Major, taking place in June at the Moody Center. Nova Wallet will serve as the official self-custodial wallet partner for four other BLAST Premier events in 2025, including BLAST Premier Rivals S1, BLAST Premier Bounty S2, BLAST Premier Open S2, and BLAST Premier Rivals S2.
Under the terms of the deal, BLAST will integrate the company’s brand on-site at events, online via its social media channels, and during broadcasts for events.
For its part, Nova Wallet has brought esports and crypto together with a new free-to-play mini-game called Nova Wallet x Hydration on its Hydration platform. In case you’re not familiar with it, Nova Wallet is a mobile Polkadot wallet funded by the Polkadot Treasury and developed by Novasama Technologies that claims support for more than 100 networks and over 200 assets.
“We’re excited to partner with BLAST for the remainder of the 2025 CS competitive season,” said Novasama Technologies CEO Anton Khvorov. “We can’t wait for BLAST.tv fans to get their hands on the Nova Wallet x Hydration mini-game and dive into the action – whether they’re in the arena or watching from home. And above all, we’re thrilled to introduce BLAST’s passionate community to Polkadot and the limitless possibilities of web3 technology.”
BLAST.tv Austin Major is the second Counter-Strike Major of the year for BLAST, with 32 of the best Counter-Strike teams competing for a chunk of a total prize pool of $1.25 million USD over the course of three stages.
Teams participating in the competition include Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, Aurora Gaming, NAVI, G2 Esports, Team Liquid, The MongolZ, Team Falcons, FaZe Clan, 2DMAX, Virtus.pro, paiN Gaming, Furia, MIBR, M80, OG, Heroic, Metizport, Nemiga Gaming, Betboom, B8, Complexity, Wildcard, NRG, Imperial Esports, Fluxo, BESTIA, Chinggs Warriors, Lynn Vision Gaming, TYLOO, and FlyQuest.
More details about the tournament format, prize breakdown, and more can be found here.