Mercedes Suspends FTX F1 Sponsorship Deal

The Mercedes System 1 staff has suspended its sponsorship cope with FTX, one of many world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. FTX has successfully collapsed after reviews got here to mild alleging that the trade may not have as a lot cash as claimed. The trade is now on the verge of chapter and is the topic of an investigation by U.S. federal authorities.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Group has confirmed to Autosport that it has suspended its cope with FTX and eliminated the trade’s brand from its vehicles. Initially, the staff indicated that FTX’s brand would stay on the automobile for this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix however reversed the choice this morning because the state of affairs advanced. The staff has said, “This implies the corporate will not seem on our race automobile and different branded property from this weekend. We’ll proceed to watch intently the state of affairs because it evolves.”

Hypothesis surrounding the trade’s liquidity plummeted the worth of FTX’s personal token, and FTX halted withdrawals on Tuesday. A proposed acquisition of FTX by Binance, a rival trade, has additionally fallen aside which sparked a downturn of all the cryptocurrency market. Reuters reported that FTX is rushed to search out $9.4 billion in funding to bail out the trade. The U.S. Division of Justice and the Securities and Change Fee at the moment are investigating FTX.

Mercedes signed a multi-year settlement with FTX late final yr. Seven different System 1 groups have sponsorship agreements with crypto-related corporations, together with the Alpine F1 staff’s settlement with Binance. It’s not clear how FTX’s present dire state of affairs will affect the panorama of crypto sponsorships in System 1 and throughout all main sports activities.