As the team’s Official Blockchain Partner, this multi-year partnership means that fans will have even more exciting ways to connect with Oracle Red Bull Racing. 🏎️ – @SuiNetwork (twitter)
The trend of crypto industry sponsorships shows no signs of slowing down in Formula 1. The latest development comes from Oracle Red Bull Racing, who just announced a partnership with Mysten Labs, the creator of the recently launched Sui blockchain.
Just a few days ahead of the Spanish GP race in Barcelona, Red Bull and Mysten Labs sealed a multi-year deal to extend their partnership beyond the digital realm. This collaboration will encompass a wide range of real-world and online activities.
“The potential of blockchain technology to fundamentally change the way humans transact, interact, and communicate is enormous,” said Evan Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Mysten Labs. “We are extremely pleased to match Sui’s best-in-class performance with Oracle Red Bull Racing.”
Mysten Labs was founded by a group of former Meta developers who were initially working on the now-abandoned Diem project. They have now emerged as a prominent player in the blockchain space, having raised $300 million in funding, which propelled their valuation to over $2 billion.
Building upon this success, Mysten Labs recently introduced the Sui mainnet in early May, aiming to become the go-to destination for decentralized apps and games, rivaling Aptos and Solana.
🤩Huge news: We’re officially teaming up with @redbullracing!
As the team’s Official Blockchain Partner, this multi-year partnership means that fans will have even more exciting ways to connect with Oracle Red Bull Racing. 🏎️ pic.twitter.com/7Gw8mbT3XH
— Sui (@SuiNetwork) June 1, 2023
Other Web3-F1 partnerships
In February 2022, Red Bull secured a three-year partnership with crypto exchange Bybit. The deal was valued at a total of $150 million. The team also has sponsorship from Cash App, a platform known for its Bitcoin purchasing capabilities.
Red Bull also had a partnership with the blockchain network Tezos. However, this collaboration came to an end in December 2022.
Similarly, fellow F1 team Mercedes AMG Petronas had a sponsorship agreement with the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Unfortunately, following the exchange’s collapse in November 2022, Mercedes AMG Petronas decided to suspend their partnership.
Despite the end of some F1-crypto partnerships, this does not indicate a widespread trend of teams moving away from such collaborations. For example, Williams Racing recently welcomed crypto exchange Kraken as a sponsor in March this year.
The partnership includes displaying Kraken’s logo on Williams’ cars. Additionally, select NFT holders will have their digital assets displayed on the rear wing of the team’s car. The announcement came as the team was preparing for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Williams commercial director James Bower said in a press release that the F1 team was “proud that Kraken is entering Formula 1 with Williams Racing, bringing together two of the most trusted and longest standing brands in our respective industries.” He added that they were “excited to get the partnership underway to offer our fans cutting-edge crypto and Web3 experiences, while also enabling Kraken to reach new institutional clients and businesses through our network and events.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, Kraken CMO Mayur Gupta said that the partnership would help with “showcasing the power and life-changing impact of crypto and Web3.”
The partnership came after the exchange reached a $30 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the SEC’s complaint, Kraken had sold unregistered investment contracts. As a result, the exchange was forced to stop offering staking services or programs in the U.S.
