The Mercedes Formula One (F1) team has suspended its sponsorship deal with troubled crypto exchange FTX.

Therefore, starting from the Brazilian Grand Prix, the team’s cars will not carry FTX logos. mercedes stated:

“As a first step, we have suspended our partnership agreement with FTX. This means the company will no longer appear on our race car and other brand assets starting this weekend. We will continue to monitor the situation closely as it evolves.”

This decision was made based on the rapidly changing situation as FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to a liquidity crisis on the exchange. Additionally, the exchange’s CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has resigned.

The FTX saga unfolded several days ago after an 8 billion black hole emerged in its finances. This liquidity crisis reportedly arose after Sam Bankman-Fried transferred at least $4 billion to Alameda Research, the trading arm of FTX, with some of the funds in customer deposits.

The fall of FTX is also related to Bankman-Fried’s decision to bail out struggling crypto firms as the bear market continued to bite.

Therefore, the bankruptcy route seemed inevitable, given that Binance halted its plans to take over FTX, citing misappropriation of customer funds.

The sponsorship deal between the Mercedes F1 Team and FTX was not entirely rosy, given the latter’s cancellation of this year’s Miami Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged that CRYPTOCURRENCIES they couldn’t be ignored because they were part of modern technology because 80% of the racing teams on the 2022 F1 grid featured at least one crypto sponsor.

“You cannot close yourself off from modern technology. It is definitely an area that will grow. They have become a major player in the financial world and are obviously looking for exposure through Formula 1. We all benefit but we also learn from him,” said Wolff.

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