The collapse of crypto exchange FTX has left Formula 1 partners Mercedes in ‘utter disbelief’ team principal Toto Wolff calling for the sector to be regulated more diligently.
Mercedes suspended the partnership last week, removing FTX sponsorship branding from their cars and other assets ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On Friday, last week FTX filed for bankruptcy after a spell of witnessing customers pull assets while market leader Binance (Alpine F1 team partner) abandoned a rescue offer.
Speaking to reporters on a video call after Mercedes finished one-two in the race at Interlagos, Wolff said he remained convinced of crypto’s relevance and believed in blockchain.
“But this situation is very unfortunate. We considered FTX because they were one of the most credible and solid, financially sound partners that were out there,” he said.
“And out of nowhere we can see that a crypto company can basically be on its knees and gone (in) one week. That shows how vulnerable the sector still is.”
Wolff: Crypto is unregulated and needs to find its way into regulations
The Mercedes team boss continued: “There’s so many customers, investors and partners like us that have been left in utter disbelief at what has happened,” lamented Wolff of the FTX collapse.
F1 has attracted growing interest from crypto firms as the sport’s popularity booms, particularly with younger audiences and in the United States.
Apart from FTX, the sport has attracted Crypto.com as one of its global partners, with that Singapore-based exchange also sponsoring the Aston Martin team.
This year’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix had crypto.com as title sponsor as part of a nine-year deal.
Crypto.com faced questions on Monday around some transactions on the platform that sparked speculation and fund withdrawals. Binance is a partner of the Renault-owned Alpine F1 team.
Meanwhile, FTX posted this message on their homepage: “FTX is currently unable to process withdrawals. We strongly advise against depositing. Deposits of TRX, BTT, JST, SUN, and HT are disabled. All onboarding of new clients has been suspended until further notice.” (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)