Sponsors of Hibs and Rangers, Sportemon Go, went ghost on Monday evening before resurfacing with a notice that the digital cryptocurrency used to power the platform had ceased trading.
Fans noticed social media accounts for the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace had been temporarily shut down, with their official website redirecting to a single webpage that asked for a password.
Rangers signed a two-year-deal with Sportemon Go in October, while a month earlier Easter Road chiefs penned an agreement for three years.
Both clubs have featured the logo on the rear of their jerseys and TV ads ran for Sportemon Go when they met in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final last year.
The landing page for the sponsor is at time of writing back online with a notice explaining: "The SGOX Token has ceased trading.
"The community voted unanimously to redeem SGOX for L1TF token. This was great result for Token holders, with 1 x SGOX Token being redeemable for 1 x Liberty One Treasury Fund Token. This was overwhelmingly voted in favour by over 90% of holders, with more than 95% of tokens.
"Also note the Team, Athletes and other IP are currently being removed or deleted, as we finalise amicable termination agreements. These will all be removed once finalised."
At present, the 'Rangers NFTs' page on their website remains live.
The Edinburgh Evening News reports Hibs began to distance themselves from Sportemon Go upon signs of financial difficulty months ago, with commercial director Greg McEwan telling the capital paper: "Knowing Sportemon Go's difficulties, we had been planning for a mutual termination of the partnership and have a new partner in place for the upcoming season, which will be announced soon."
Last month, all Premiership clubs bar Rangers were included in a Scottish launch for Sorare, a similar platform – although with far greater capital behind it – that uses NFTs as a form of virtual trading cards.
Sorare explained: "Rangers has advised the SPFL that it has pre-existing conflicting commercial obligations and that it is therefore not required to participate.
"It is Sorare's goal to onboard Rangers as soon as we can."
