- The American exchange Kraken has signed a partnership with Williams Racing, one of the F1 teams.
- Kraken will appear on the rear wing of the vehicle, and the crypto company also announced that it will create an NFT collection.
The crypto platforms have found a showcase in sports to make themselves known to a larger audience. Soccer and basketball have been good allies, although none like Formula 1. The World Cup seems to be the category chosen by the big brands to win the support of the masses.
The last to arrive has been Kraken, the centralized exchange based in San Francisco, United States. This, which seeks to compete with Coinbase in the market and appears third in daily volume behind Binance and the aforementioned, signed a partnership with Williams Racing, one of F1’s historic teams.
📣 Today we’re thrilled to announce Kraken as an official partner of @WilliamsRacing!
Together we’re accelerating the crypto revolution on and off the grid 🏁
More info: https://t.co/ASxKLrBlFo pic.twitter.com/5RfIdkZKbZ
— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) March 28, 2023
Kraken presence and an NFT collection
The arrival of the exchange at Williams is not accidental. In 2021, the team was sold to Dorilton Capital, an American investment fund. Founded by Frank Williams in 1966, the family left top positions with the departure of Claire Williams, the founder’s daughter.
From now on, the logo of Kraken will appear on the team’s car. These appear on the rear wing of the vehicle, which is likely to get more fans interested in them. Consequently, the price will likely rise in response to the high demand.
The crypto company also announced that it will create an NFT collection, what others have already done, such as McLaren or Red Bull.
Through Twitter, Kraken announced that the big goal is a “revolution on and off the grill“. For his part, the commercial director of Williams Racing, James Bower, enthusiastically highlighted the union and assured that they are “lThe most reliable brands with the longest experience in their respective sectors”.
For his part, Mayur Gupta, another senior executive of the British team, stressed that “the association demonstrates that it is easier to achieve great feats by combining a great mission with innovation, excellence and outstanding performance”, pointed to the site Bitcoinist,
The crypto world and Formula 1
As mentioned, Kraken is not the only or the first crypto partner in Formula 1. Red Bull, the champion team that has Checo Pérez in its ranks, has been associated for years with Bybit, sponsor that shines on the rear wing; McLaren, for its part, has agreements with Tezos and OKX; Haas has OpenSea as a partner, while Alpine continues with Binance.
WhileAston Martin and Alfa Romeo are still linked to Socios.com, the most popular platform for fan tokens. These allow fans to access certain benefits that they might not otherwise be able to. These include tickets to events and meeting the pilots, among other things.
Sponsorships not only include the teams, but also the category that has the support of Crypto.com that during 2022, the Miami Grand Prix led the cryptocurrency exchange on its behalf.
Partnerships that ended
It is also worth mentioning that it has not all been good news in recent times and many alliances have been dissolved in this bear market. Mercedes suspended its signing with FTX, the troubled exchange owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, thus losing its projected $28 million.
Ferrari, another of the heavyweights, does not continue with its alliance with Velas either, the Swiss organization that developed a high-speed blockchain at minimal cost. The commitment was for $30 million, so the Italian automaker had to quickly cover those funds.
Williams has not appeared in the top places in Formula 1 for years. Kraken, meanwhile, today seems far from being able to compete on an equal footing with Coinbase. Who will benefit best from that partnership?
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