At this year’s US Grand Prix, which takes place on October 22 in Austin, TX, you will most likely encounter an NFT, such as a Bored Ape or another popular NFT, racing around the Formula 1 (F1) circuit.
As part of the ongoing partnership between Williams Racing and crypto exchange Kraken, the British F1 team has called on NFT holders with assets listed on Kraken’s own NFT marketplace to submit their tokens for consideration.
Which NFT do we see racing?
But which NFTs deserve the credit of being showcased at the track?
Kraken has decided to democratize the selection process. From August 1, the submission window will remain open until August 18. Following this, Williams Racing and Kraken will shortlist the top 20 entries, which will then be subject to a community vote from August 28-31.
The community’s top four NFT picks, along with two NFTs hand-picked by Williams team drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, will grace the team’s cars at the Grand Prix.
Lou Frangella, Kraken’s Head of Brand Partnerships and former VP of Partnerships at FTX.US, expressed his excitement for seeing NFTs on the team cars in a recent interview with CoinDesk, noting that NFTs mean something different to each person who owns a digital collectible.
“NFTs are an essential part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and I think they represent a lot of different things – they are owned by some people and there are very engaged communities in many cases,” Frangella said. “Whenever we have the opportunity to take the crypto community to the next level, we want to use our platform to do that.”
The partnership
Kraken’s partnership with Williams Racing, which kicked off earlier this year, marked the first collaboration of its kind for the crypto exchange opening a path for F1 fans and crypto holders to come together in one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
Since its announcement in March, Kraken has already helped produce content and experiences to educate and engage F1 fans about the value and mission of crypto and the push to Web3, including facilitating fan encounters at multiple racing events . It has also displayed the original Bitcoin whitepaper on Williams cars and celebrated Bitcoin Pizza Day by handing out pizzas to the entire Williams Racing team and staff.
“Kraken’s partnership with Williams Racing shows what is possible when you combine a great mission with excellence, innovation and breakthrough performance,” said Kraken’s CMO Mayur Gupta in the partnership’s initial announcement.
Frangella also elaborated on some of the partnership’s objectives, stating that the partnership “is designed to educate and serve as a resource, not just for F1 enthusiasts, but for everyone involved with the sport – whether you’re a Williams fan or not, our mission is to promote understanding and acceptance.”
Other F1 x crypto partnerships
While Williams Racing’s involvement with Kraken has looked promising so far, making this new NFT application a first for F1, it’s not the only F1 team to recognize the importance of these kinds of next-gen crypto partnerships.
In 2022, Red Bull Racing announced its partnership with crypto exchange Bybit, worth a whopping $150 million, alongside its recent multi-year agreement with the Sui blockchain that will focus on bringing similar Web3-infused experiences to the world. his fan base.
As for the Monaco Grand Prix, which just took place in May, F1 ticket provider Platinum Group also rolled out NFT tickets ahead of the race, giving visitors not only access to the race, but also future ticket discounts.