Bitcoin will be making its planned debut at 105th edition of the America’s most famous car race, the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Ed Carpenter Racing will have a fully designed BTC Chevrolet numbered 21 to signify the total supply of BTC, being 21 million.
IndyCar Series team Ed Carpenter Racing’s (ECR) unique bitcoin sponsorship is among the latest examples of cryptocurrency mixing with professional sports.
“To bring my personal interest and immersion in Bitcoin to our industry is historic,” team owner Carpenter said earlier this month in a press release announcing the arrangement. “…I see it as an opportunity to transform how we operate within our own motorsport industry.”
Carpenter told AutoWeek in a May 13 story that he owns bitcoin and saw it as an innovative way to compete against other racing teams — and sports — for coveted sponsorship money.
Carpenter hopes to eventually be able to pay service providers in BTC, admitting that currently it is not a viable option, “but I see a future where that will change, and if I can be at the tip of the spear of that, it’s a fun project and one that’s also doing historic things for the Bitcoin community as well” he said.
