NBA champion Tristan Thompson announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 that he’s partnering with global telecom company World Mobile to launch a community-owned mobile network called Uplift. The network offers unlimited data plans starting at $9.99 per month.
Uplift is built on blockchain technology and a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN).
With Uplift, every subscription will contribute to neighborhood-level network expansion, while local hosts that are known as “AirNode operators” will earn a portion of network revenue by providing community coverage. The idea behind Uplift is to challenge the $2 trillion telecom industry’s centralized model by allowing users and local operators to share in the value they create.
“For me, it’s about, how can I help people that have walked the same life that I walked, and I think for us, what we’re doing is providing connectivity and connection for unlimited data at a way lower cost,” Thompson said onstage. “It’s like, how can I help my community have a better tomorrow? And that’s what this is about. And I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to have a team that understands this vision. And we want to help people in America, help the inner city, and just give people hope.”
While Thompson is known for his basketball career and winning the NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he’s also an outspoken advocate for innovation and inclusion. Thompson currently holds four C-suite roles across the web3 and fintech landscape. He’s the chief digital equity officer at World Mobile and the chief advisory officer at AxonDAO, an AI-powered medical research platform inspired by his brother’s epilepsy journey.
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He’s also the co-founder of Basketball Fun, a web3 platform that tokenizes NBA players, and he’s the chief content officer at …