IndyCar 500 Racer to Drive in BTC Livery
3 min read
Tesla may have fallen out of love with BTC, but there’s one car still carrying the flag for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Later this month, Ed Carpenter Racing driver Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 Chevrolet will take to the track in the 105th Indianapolis 500 sporting BTC livery.
“I could not be more excited that this project is becoming a reality,” said team owner Ed Carpenter in a release accompanying the announcement. “To bring my personal interest and immersion in BTC to our industry is historic. Just as BTC is revolutionizing our financial system, I see it as an opportunity to transform how we operate within our own motorsport industry.”
As the supply of #BTC is fixed at 21 million with no more to ever be made, BTC will be fixed on @RinusVeeKay’s No. 21 at the #Indy500.https://t.co/ukrj1DxucX pic.twitter.com/X5gnSUZQF5
— Ed Carpenter Racing (@ECRIndy) May 12, 2021
The BTC livery, which features the iconic orange “B” logo on a black background, is the result of a partnership with payments and remittances app Strike, which contributed $100,000 towards the project and will fundraise on behalf of the BTC community in a “peer-to-peer contribution model”.
A QR code on the car itself enables donors to contribute funds; according to Zap CEO Jack Mallers, 70% of the proceeds are allocated to funding open-source BTC development, with the rest going towards the BTC car and local Indianapolis charities, including the Riley Hospital for Children.
Mallers, who contributed $25,000, said that other notable donors include NYDIG founder Ross Stevens, who added $250,000 to the pot, along with NFL star Russell Okung and What BTC Did podcast host Peter McCormack.
“In a world of potato chip and energy drinks sponsors, Ed chose to race for human freedom, financial literacy, financial inclusivity, savings technology, and BTC open-source development,” Mallers wrote in a Medium post.
Speaking to Autoweek, Carpenter explained that Strike is converting the BTC received into fiat currency. “Our suppliers that we work with, none of them accept BTC yet, so we convert it to US dollars and operate just like we would with any other partnership,” he said. And down the line, he hopes the cryptocurrency will become more integrated with the sport. “Obviously, I can’t pay my Chevy contract in BTC yet, but I see a future where that will change,” he added.
This isn’t the motor racing world’s first brush with cryptocurrency. As far back as 2014, Reddit’s Dogecoin community raised $55,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise. And in 2021, a NASCAR racer once again sported Dogecoin livery, with suspension company Springrates plastering the Shiba Inu logo on driver Stefan Parsons’ car. BTC has made its way onto the NASCAR circuit, too; last year, payment services firm Cash App put the BTC logo onto NASCAR driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace’s signature motor.
And outside of the racing circuit, other sports are turning their attention to cryptocurrency. UK soccer club Southampton FC recently inked a deal to receive performance-based bonuses in BTC, while Crypto.com has sponsored the Coppa Italia soccer final.
In the US, NFL player Russell Okung has converted half of his salary into BTC through Strike, with the crypto’s 2020-21 bull run boosting his earnings; Okung noted that “so many athletes are hitting me about BTC and crypto, I’m doing calls everyday,” in a Twitter post.
