The Rise of Cryptosponsorships

Dogecoin, the Internet meme turned cryptocurrency, has never had trouble gaining publicity. In January the Doge community sponsored the Jamaican bobsled team at the Sochi Olympics, then in March the Dogecoin subreddit sponsored NASCAR driver Josh Wise at Talladega Speedway. It was an idea, it seems, that has spawned a host of imitators.

For those who don’t know, this is an annual road race from France (this year the starting points are Paris in the north and Bordeaux in the south) down through Spain to Marrakesh, Morrocco. The race is only open to students aged 18 to 28, and they may only use Renault 4 cars. The teams have 10 days to make it from start to finish, over a course that includes 1,500 miles of harsh North African desert. Established in 1997 in Rennes, the 4L Trophy is mainly done to provide children with school supplies. This year an estimated 80 tons of school furniture was delivered by 2,648 students representing 1,324 teams from 1,460 colleges. With a market cap of less than $200K at the time of this writing, it is unclear if the KARMA team will be able to raise the funds necessary to participate in the race, With a volume of 50 billion KARMA in existence, it seems that they wish to compete with both doge and Reddcoin as the default tipping currency for the internet, so this could see the value rise as people buy KARMA to help sponsor the team.  

Another athlete being sponsored by crypto is Elsa Hammond who is attempting to row 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii in the first Great Pacific Race. Consisting of soloists or teams up to four, there are no sails or motors allowed, making this is a grueling test of physical and mental stamina. To help offset the cost ($336,000) Ms. Hammond, the only European contestant in the race, is asking donors for $70 (42 Pounds Sterling) per mile. In exchange Hammond will add your special woman’s name to her boat. She has also secured a sponsorship from Ultracoin whose founder has promised “substantial” amounts of Ultracoin after the completion of the event. With Ultracoin set to peak at 100 million coins the term “substantial” could really be anything, so that will be interesting to watch.

At the time of this writing Ultracoin has a market cap of over $400,000 and sell for roughly $.03 each, so the sponsorship could be significant. This would definitely be a good thing for Hammond since she plans to donate to gender equality charity The Great Initiative, as well as the Plastic Oceans Foundation.

VERTCOIN

And finally we have Vertcoin Athlete, one of the more interesting variations on this theme. Colorado-based marathon runner Brandon Kurtz attempted to raise some Vertcoin to finance a trip to Germany to participate in a marathon there. He was able to raise 200 Vertcoin (~$200), which wouldn’t have covered airfare much less accomodations. Undaunted he has since decided to spur awareness by selling Vertcoin-themed merch making those who purchase the gear de facto ambassadors of both cryptocurrency in general, and Vertcoin in particular.

Kurtz doesn’t only want to sponsor himself, however. His initiative seeks to inspire more athletes to pick up the Vertcoin banner and spread the word even further, hopefully increasing not only awareness of Vertcoin, but the value as well. With a current market cap of $4 million, there is plenty of room for growth, and no reason to doubt that Vertcoin, one of the first ASIC-resistant altcoins, will continue to grow in popularity.