We’ve seen a recent rise in cryptocurrency sponsorships in the motorsport world, but this week, we had a first: Landon Cassill will become the first NASCAR driver to actually be paid in cryptocurrency as a result of his sponsorship with Voyager, AP reports.
Voyager is a cryptocurrency brokerage platform—or, basically, a place to buy and sell crypto. And, if you’re still a little shaky on the details, cryptocurrency is essentially a digital form of payment, and if you want to learn more, there are plenty of other resources that can explain the situation far better than I.
Cassill has been keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency market for several years, which prompted his initial meeting with Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich at a crypto conference two years ago, AP reports.
Here’s a little more on how the deal works, from the article:
Cassill said Voyager is paying “market rate” for the sponsorship but the funds will be distributed in crypto. He said the payment is a “portfolio of digital assets” that includes Litecoin and Bitcoin priced at market rates.
“I can trade it out right away before the market changes or hang on to it as the market goes up or goes down, carve out a little bit, pay my bills with it and hold the rest,” he said.
Voyager will be funding a 19-race deal for Cassill with JD Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
This comes on the back of a successful crypto sponsorship in IndyCar. Bitcoin sponsored Ed Carpenter Racing driver Rinus Veekay during the 2021 Indy 500. Veekay started the race on the front row in third place and finished in eighth, having led an impressive 32 laps. Dogecoin, too, has previously sponsored a NASCAR Cup Series driver Josh Wise and then, later, Stefan Parsons.
Of course, there are issues with crypto: its massive power drain, its unstable value, its questionable anonymity, and more.