Williams Racing Of Formula One And Cryptocurrency Exchange Kraken Work Together

As sports partnerships with digital asset companies are becoming less and less common, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken struck a multi-year global arrangement with Formula One team Williams Racing. This is the trading platform's first significant sponsorship deal.

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Williams vehicles' halo and rear wings, as well as the drivers' and team jerseys, will all sport the Kraken emblem for the remainder of the 2023 season, the two parties stated in a statement on Tuesday. At select races, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from artists who have sold their creations on the Kraken non-fungible token marketplace (a marketplace for trading tokens that refer to special digital valuables) will be placed on the back of the cars. The businesses omitted providing specific financial terms.

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For cryptocurrency companies willing to spend big on high-profile marketing, Formula One has become a desirable ticket. Companies like Crypto.com and OKX spent hundreds of millions of dollars, and in 2022, all 10 teams had at least one cryptocurrency sponsor. Yet at the beginning of this season, the number of crypto brands had practically been cut in half due to a months-long price decline that was accompanied by a wave of bankruptcy and controversies.

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Other hosting nations forbade teams from sporting crypto logos on their vehicles and uniforms and restricted businesses from pitching their services to spectators outside Cup stadiums as the downturn worsened last year.

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Williams Racing is not immune to the issues with cryptocurrency. In May, the group agreed to a "multi-year" contract with Terra Virtua, a metaverse platform. But by year's end, the company's branding and emblem had subtly disappeared from its vehicles, website, and other platforms.

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According to James Bower, Williams' commercial director, the company's connection with Kraken is considerably more expansive, and Terra Virtua and Williams decided to part ways at the end of last year. Kraken, he claimed, was not subjected to additional inspection, in contrast to rival McLaren Racing, which last year increased the level of screening it gave its new cryptocurrency partner OKX after a prior business partnership went sour.

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Mayur Gupta, the exchange's chief marketing officer, stated in a joint interview with Bower before announcing that Kraken is also looking at areas outside of Formula One. After a difficult year for cryptocurrencies, Gupta claimed that 2023 appeared to be the ideal year for Kraken to think about sponsorships.

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We never made rash decisions, he claimed. "We did not ride that Formula One wave during the last bull run."

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Kraken clossed its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and Tokyo after announcing in November that it will lay off almost 30% ozf its personnel, affecting 1,100 people. In February, it reached a settlement with the US Securities aadnd Exchange Commission over claims that its cryptoasset staking services violated local laws. As part of the deal, it agreed to pay a $30 million fine and stop offering those products.

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