New York-based digital currency exchange Gemini Trust Co. has announced a new partnership and sponsorship deal with professional eSports organization Echo Fox.

The deal will bring together the cryptocurrency market and eSports – an industry that has been growing at a rapid pace across the globe. According to Silicon Angle, under the terms of the deal, Gemini will work with Echo Fox to integrate bitcoin payments into the eSports industry, and will sponsor Echo Fox eSports teams.

“Due to a general familiarity with cryptocurrencies, the gaming community is a natural place to cultivate understanding and trust as we work to introduce the benefits of digital assets to a broader, more mainstream market,” Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder and CEO of Gemini, said in a statement, adding that Gemini is particularly well positioned to create a safe ecosystem for frictionless money transfer within eSport.

Established in December 2015, Echo Fox is a North American professional eSports organization founded and owned by former NBA player Rick Fox.

“With the rapid increase in the number of popular international events and athletes coming from every corner of world, the borderless nature of bitcoin makes it a promising candidate to become the de facto standard for payments across all aspects of eSports”, Fox said. “There is a deep-seated connection between video game culture and digital currency and the futures of both are innately linked.”

Last month, Gemini kicked off its international expansion plans starting with Canada. Soon after, it announced the expansion of its services to the United Kingdom. The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) authorized Gemini Trust Company, LLC to offer the trading of Ether on its platform. This made the comapny the world's first licensed Ether exchange.