The Indy 500 Will Have A Bitcoin Car This Year

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Friends,

There are a few legendary events that might be considered the best in motorsports. You have the Monaco Grand Prix. The Daytona 500. The 24 hours of Le Mans. But in my opinion, the Indianapolis 500 is right up there also.

It has more than 100 years of history, almost 300,000 people attend each year, and it is built upon rich traditions like chugging milk and kissing the bricks. I’ve been a handful of times. It’s really an awesome event.

But this year, things are going to look a little bit different.

Ed Carpenter Racing announced yesterday that Bitcoin would be the primary paint scheme on its No. 21 Chevrolet for this year’s Indy 500, driven by 20-year-old Rinus VeeKay.

Here’s how the car will look:

I found this interesting for a couple of reasons.

First, with bitcoin appreciating almost 500% in the last year alone, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a crypto-related company pay seven figures to sponsor a car in the legendary Indianapolis 500.

Instead, Ed Carpenter has teamed up with Lightning Network payments platform Strike, forfeiting potential revenue and donating the sponsorship.

Here’s what he had to say (Source):

In addition to the Bitcoin logo, the No. 21 Chevy will also have a QR code that fans can use to contribute funds. About 70% of the money will go directly to developers working on Bitcoin-related projects, and 30% will be used to cover race costs.

Neither Ed Carpenter nor Strike will make a single dollar from the sponsorship.

Even better, following the race, the car will immediately be transported to Bitcoin 2021 — an event in Miami that is expected to be the largest Bitcoin gathering in history. It will be on display to drive additional contributions, and the specific direction of donations will be announced during the event.

That’s all great, but there is another part no one is talking about.

While it didn’t receive the same attention as the Bitcoin sponsorship, Ed Carpenter Racing also announced that they would become the first team in motorsports history to integrate Bitcoin as a payment option for all of its employees.

Ed Carpenter’s reasoning was simple:

In the end, the worlds of crypto and sports continue to collide more every day.

Athletes are being paid their salaries & endorsements in crypto. Professional sports teams are selling tickets & merchandise for crypto. An NBA arena will be named after a crypto exchange starting next season. Hell, even the GOAT Tom Brady has laser eyes on Twitter.

As I’ve said before, when a new technology like cryptocurrency is introduced, it’s important for players and organizations that want to be at the forefront of innovation to experiment. Some of these use cases will succeed, while others will fail, but as the bad ideas are filtered out and the good ideas start to compound, innovation will inevitably occur.

That’s the important part.

Ultimately, I’m most impressed that Ed Carpenter put his financial interests aside, came up with an innovative way to drive attention toward his beliefs, and will use the funds to further develop the digital and decentralized world he believes in.

That’s something we can all respect.

Have a great day, and we’ll talk tomorrow.

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Extra Credit

Forbes released its annual list of the highest-paid athletes in the world yesterday.

Here are the Top 10:

1. Conor McGregor: $180M

2. Lionel Messi: $130M

3. Cristiano Ronaldo: $120M

4. Dak Prescott: $107M

5. LeBron James: $96M

6. Neymar: $95M

7. Roger Federer: $90M

8. Lewis Hamilton: $82M

9. Tom Brady: $76M

10. Kevin Durant: $75M

You can check out the entire list here.