The cryptocurrency drive within Formula One has taken another blow with the news that Scuderia Ferrari has put the brakes on its partnership with Velas Blockchain.
The deal – which was signed in 2021 and was rumoured to be worth $30m a year – was touted as a game changer for F1 as it looked to increase fan engagement through the use of NFTs.
Details on why the two parties have gone their separate ways are yet to be confirmed.
Rumours have swirled that Velas was in breach of its financial obligations with the Italian F1 giant. While other sources claim Ferrari was ‘non-compliant’ with certain NFT clauses.
Either way, it’s not the first big cryptocurrency casualty to hit the sport with Mercedes losing a reported $15m from partner FTX when the exchange filed for bankruptcy.
Tezos also brought the flag down on its deal with Red Bull Racing when deciding not to renew its deal because of ‘strategy misalignment’.
Industry figurehead Toto Wolff, the team principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, had previously warned other manufacturers that they could face issues.
According to Decal Spotters on Twitter, Alpha Tauri has also removed blockchain platform Fantom from its list of partners. The F1 season returns on March 5 with the opener taking place in Bahrain.
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