Uptop
“Can sports fandom be turned into a card-linked rewards network that monetizes sponsor spend across every-day merchants?”
Founded2022
HQNew York, NY, USA (office in Seattle)
IndustryVertical SaaS / Sports Loyalty & Rewards
The story
Founded 2022 as a blockchain shopping rewards platform (Airdrop Labs Inc.) offering NFT rewards, branded currency and a self-custody Uptop Wallet on the Polygon blockchain. Pivoted 2024-2025 toward a sports loyalty vertical — signing NBA teams (Cavaliers, Pistons) and college programs (LSU) — turning everyday consumer spending into fan rewards. The crypto-native positioning has been recast into a card-linked loyalty product, now under the Rain (stablecoin-powered card platform) umbrella, with Rain acting as the co-branded card issuing partner.
Product timeline
2022
Founded as Airdrop Labs Inc., dba Uptop; launched blockchain-based shopping rewards platform with NFT rewards and Uptop Wallet on Polygon· pivot
2024
Cleveland Cavaliers partnership — first NBA fan rewards program launch· banking
2025
Pistons partnership (second NBA launch) and LSU partnership for college athletics fan rewards· banking
2025
Became part of Rain, the stablecoin payments platform, launching co-branded card program with Rain as issuer· acquisition
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Uptop’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Card issuing
in the full report
Crypto
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.