The prominence of crypto sponsors in the apex of auto racing, Formula 1, has declined from 16 to 12 in under one year.
In the 2022 Formula 1 (F1) season, there was an abundance of cryptocurrency logos on cars and racetracks alike. Top blockchain companies, crypto exchanges, and token issuers spent hundreds of millions of dollars collectively to be properly represented on the highest echelon of auto racing.
However, the F1 2023 event paints an entirely different picture. There has been an apparent reduction in the number of crypto logos appearing on Formula 1 cars and the racetrack.
In sharing Bloomberg data, Wu Blockchain reported that the number of crypto sponsors for F1 teams has declined from 16 to 10 from 2022 to 2023. However, further investigations suggest that the latest number is 12.
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Velas, Fantom, FTX, Floki, Vauld, Tezos, and Virtua are crypto firms that ended their partnerships over the last year. However, three new crypto-F1 partnerships in 2023 increased the tally to 12. Wu Blockchain had reported only one in his initial disclosure.
In February, the popular crypto analytics firm CryptoDATA became the sponsor of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team. In March, Kraken became the official sponsor of the F1 Team Williams. In June, Mysten Labs, the creator of the Sui Network, became the official blockchain partner of Red Bull.
The active crypto-F1 partnerships now include Tezos (McLaren), OKX (McLaren), Binance (French Alpine F1), OpenSea (Haas F1), ByBit (Red Bull), Crypto.com (Aston Martin), Socios (Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo), Everdome (Alfa Romeo), CryptoDATA (Alfa Romeo), Kraken (Williams), and Mysten Labs (Red Bull).
What Happened To Crypto-F1 Partnerships?
One apparent reason for the shrinking presence of crypto in the 2023 F1 is the 2022 crypto winter, which saw the market’s global capitalization decline by more than 65%. However, some of the closed partnerships have more specific reasons.
As a result of the November 2022 FTX collapse, Mercedes suspended its partnership with the crypto exchange, taking a $15 million loss in the process.
In January 2023, Ferrari ended its multi-year partnership with Velas Blockchain for failing to comply with clauses that allowed them to create NFT images.
In December 2022, Tezos decided not to renew its partnership with Red Bull, saying it was no longer in line with the company’s current strategy. Crypto.com terminated its partnership with Aston Martin over budget cuts.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrencies Fantom and Floki logos are no longer present on Scuderia AlphaTauri and Alpha Romeo. While these are not clear yet, the declining prices of cryptocurrencies in 2022 took a huge toll on crypto-F1 partnerships.
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