Throughout this 12 months’s U.S. Grand Prix, which takes place on October 22 in Austin, TX, you’ll in all probability catch an NFT corresponding to a Bored Ape or one other common NFT, racing across the System One (F1) monitor.
As a part of the continued partnership between Williams Racing and crypto trade Kraken, the British F1 staff has referred to as upon NFT holders with property listed on Kraken’s native NFT market to submit their tokens for consideration.
Which NFT will we see racing?
However which NFTs will earn the distinction of being showcased on the race monitor?
Kraken has determined to democratize the choice course of. Beginning August 1, The submission window will stay open till August 18. Following this, Williams Racing and Kraken will shortlist the highest 20 entries, which can then be subjected to a neighborhood vote from August 28 to 31.
The neighborhood’s prime 4 NFT selections, together with two NFTs handpicked by Williams staff drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, will grace the staff’s automobiles in the course of the Grand Prix.
Lou Frangella, Kraken’s Head of Model Partnerships and former VP of Partnerships at FTX.US, expressed his enthusiasm for seeing NFTs on the staff automobiles in a latest interview with CoinDesk, noting that NFTs imply one thing totally different to every one who owns a digital collectible.
“NFTs are an essential part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and I think they represent many different things – they are ownership for some people, and there are very engaged communities in a lot of cases,” mentioned Frangella. “Whenever we have the opportunity to lift up the crypto community, we want to use our platform to be able to do that.”
The Partnership
Kraken’s partnership with Williams Racing, which kicked off earlier this 12 months, marked the primary partnership of its type for the crypto trade that opened up an avenue for F1 followers and crypto holders to return collectively in one of many fastest-growing sports activities on the earth.
Because the March announcement, Kraken has already helped produce content material and experiences to teach and have interaction F1 followers in regards to the worth and mission of crypto and the push in the direction of Web3, together with facilitating fan meet-ups at a number of racing occasions. It has additionally displayed the unique Bitcoin whitepaper on Williams automobiles in addition to celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day by distributing pizzas to all the Williams Racing staff and workforce.
“Kraken’s partnership with Williams Racing shows what is possible when you combine a great mission with excellence, innovation and breakthrough performance,” mentioned Kraken’s CMO Mayur Gupta within the preliminary partnership announcement.
Frangella additionally elaborated on among the partnership’s targets, stating that the collaboration “aims to educate and serve as a resource, not just for F1 enthusiasts, but for anyone the sport interacts with – whether you’re a Williams fan or not. Our mission is to propel understanding and adoption.”
Different F1 x crypto partnerships
Whereas Williams Racing’s involvement with Kraken has seemed to be promising to date, making this new NFT software a primary for F1, it isn’t the one F1 staff to acknowledge the importance of some of these next-gen crypto partnerships.
In 2022, Pink Bull Racing introduced its partnership with crypto trade Bybit, valued at a staggering $150 million, along with its latest multi-year settlement with the Sui blockchain that may deal with pushing out related Web3-infused experiences to its fanbase.
Turning to the Monaco Grand Prix, which simply passed off in Might, F1 ticket supplier Platinum Group additionally rolled out NFT tickets forward of the race, providing attendees not solely entry to the race, however future ticket reductions.
