F1 and Crypto sponsorship - The beginning of the end?
Despite most Formula 1 teams fully embracing crypto sponsors, the last twelve months suggest that these sponsors are taking significant financial losses.
Mercedes' current crypto partner - FXT - has most recently made headlines for being on the verge of bankruptcy, but many other crypto companies linked with F1 teams have also taken significant losses this year.
This article will not provide any advanced analysis of the crypto market, but it will certainly give an insight into the rapidly declining prospects of F1 crypto sponsors.
Coinmarketcap.com provided the data for the value of these tokens:
Ferrari - Velas
The value of 10 Velas tokens in January 2022: $0.001
The value of 10 Velas tokens now: $0.000081
McLaren - Tezos
The value of 10 Tezos tokens in January 2022: $45
The value of 10 Tezos tokens now: $12
Alpine - Binance
The value of 10 Binance coins in January 2022: $5,000
The value of 10 Binance coins now: $2,782
Aston Martin - Crypto.com
The value of 10 Cronos in January 2022: $5
The value of 10 Cronos coins now: $0.8
AlphaTauri - Fantom
The value of 10 Fantom tokens in January 2022: $26
The value of 10 Fantom tokens now: $2.50
Alfa Romeo - FLOKI
The value of 10 FLOKI tokens in January 2022: $0.001
The value of 10 FLOKI tokens now: $0.000081
These are just some examples of the hefty losses being taken by crypto companies in recent months.
Despite massive teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari reaching agreements with Crypto companies, the trend has been overwhelmingly negative throughout 2022.
It remains to be seen for how long crypto remains a significant part of F1 sponsorship, but it goes without saying that the current trajectory cannot be maintained.
With that said, as long as sponsorship payments are made on time, F1 teams will be relatively unconcerned by this in the short term.
Moving forward, however, it seems that crypto's presence in F1 could diminish.