This is an opinion editorial by Charles MacKenzie, head of business development at BitcoinRacing.
Have you ever seen an articulated lorry drive past you with a huge glossy Bitcoin logo, and the flag of El Salvador plastered down its side as you travel the U.K.’s highways? My guess is no! Well, not yet anyway! But now, due to the efforts of a family-run race team, you might just get to see that amazing sight as you go about your daily commute. Make sure to honk and wave as you see the BitcoinRacing HGV Race Transporter drive past!
“Wow, I couldn’t believe it,” said James, a huge racing fan who met the Bitcoin Racing team at Oulton Park Circuit. “I googled it as soon as I was back on my laptop and I was even more amazed. It really got me thinking about Bitcoin because I was so excited to see Bitcoin being associated with racing cars!”
BitcoinRacing is a family-run race team doing their bit to increase awareness, education and adoption of Bitcoin, while simultaneously supporting El Salvador, through the age-old and highly respected medium of motorsports advertising. So far the team has been working full time on the project and putting up their own money to spread the good word about Bitcoin. They’re doing this out of passion and a firmly rooted belief in the ethos of Bitcoin, but also because Bitcoin helped the family escape from the dramatic financial quagmire the 2008 financial collapse forced them into — like so many others across the world.
“It was amazing. Bitcoin, a financial technology outside of the traditional system, rescued my family from the chaos that the 2008 recession inflicted,” said Charlie Mackenzie, co-founder of Bitcoin Racing. “It’s because of this that we want to give back and spread the word of Bitcoin through motorsports, so that others can learn how it can enrich their lives too.”
BitcoinRacing is entering four Bitcoin-liveried cars into a close contact, big-grid racing championship called the Nankang Tyres City Car Cup. This can be watched live on the BRSCC YouTube channel where all racing aficionados can show their support remotely . You can also attend their live events at races across the U.K. because the team wants to become a hub for Bitcoin enthusiasts where like-minded people can connect while enjoying high-octane racing! To see the dates and locations of their next race visit their website: https://bitcoinracing.co.uk
Through the team’s current efforts, they expect tens of thousands of people to be exposed to the Bitcoin logo at the races, and also on their HGV transporter, which will travel a minimum of 5,000 miles across the U.K. for this national racing competition. For the people they make an impression on, BitcoinRacing is primed to provide them with unbiased educational resources which they can use to learn about Bitcoin and its world-changing properties. The team is currently creating this Bitcoin-only education course with German engineer and investor Florian Riemer, the founder of @simplecryptocom, which can be downloaded for free on their website.
Having undertaken such a noble cause, the race team has touched the heart of the nation of El Salvador and has become one of the world’s only motor racing teams to have the endorsement of an entire country, not least the first one to make bitcoin legal tender.
BitcoinRacing’s Marketing Director Matthew Speer and Chris Mackenzie, driver of car 21, recently discussed these developments with Her Excellency Ms. Vanessa Interiano, Ambassador of El Salvador to the U.K., at an event at the El Salvador embassy in Mayfair, London. Talks centered around how BitcoinRacing and the Government of El Salvador may work together to increase awareness of Bitcoin across the world, and also promote tourism and investment into El Salvador.
Matthew Speer and Chris Mackenzie with Her Excellency Ms. Vanessa Interiano at the embassy of El Salvador holding a picture of one of the “bitcoin racing x El Salvador” cars.
One of the outcomes of the meeting was the decision to display the national flag of El Salvador on all of BitcoinRacing’s vehicles, and a historic world-first partnership was formed. The Ambassador demonstrated the Central American nation’s commitment by traveling to attend the team’s first race on the April 9, at Oulton Park Circuit, where not only did BitcoinRacing place one of their cars on the winning podium, the whole team also received an official invitation to visit to El Salvador as a result of the day’s events!
All the BitcoinRacing vehicles, and team clothing carry El Salvador’s flag.
“For Bitcoin Racing to receive such a level of support from the first nation in the world to adopt Bitcoin is just fantastic. We continue to develop such a strong and genuine friendship with El Salvador and are forging ahead exploring many exciting avenues and projects together,” Matthew Speer said. “We are delighted to stand shoulder to shoulder with El Salvador as we all push for the wider acceptance of Bitcoin and begin to see just how much of a positive impact and vast improvement in quality of life it can bring to people across the entire world.”
Following the success of their first race, BitcoinRacing started actively trending on social media and was tweeted and posted on by various El Salvadorian Governmental departments, including the Office of Communications to the Presidency (370,000 followers), the Department of International Affairs and the Department of Tourism. The U.K. embassy of El Salvador also followed closely in their wake. News coverage was effervescent in the days following the race with news articles published about the team in local newspapers in the Central American nation, including in the El Salvador Daily and El Salvador Times.
Excitingly, the team expects the support from El Salvador to continue long term and they’re excited to hopefully meet President Nayib Bukele at an upcoming visit. The team expects to work with the country to advance their team, and therefore the flag of El Salvador into the higher caliber championships, which reach a global audience.
BitcoinRacing is now preparing to propel their team — if funds become available — to the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain which has a live TV audience of 1.7 million viewers and is promoted on Porsche’s official social media accounts, which have a combined total of 35 million-plus followers. Overall, the event, which is a part of the TOCA package running alongside British touring cars, gets a staggering live audience of over 400,000 people at the races throughout the season. Porsche has estimated that this exposure for sponsors is worth in excess of £450,000 per car, but the BitcoinRacing team — driven by an unparalleled passion in the driving industry — is offering this to Bitcoin entirely for free!
In fact, the Porsche official website calculated that “the value of sponsoring a driver or team in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB,” can be estimated to be worth in terms of sponsorship some “£250,000 in PR coverage and £200,000 in TV coverage.”
As a result, Bitcoin will now be associated with speed, adrenaline and excitement, and the BitcoinRacing team is convinced this will massively assist them in improving Bitcoin’s brand awareness and cementing the currency as a household name. The team has already attracted the attention of one of El Salvador’s most well-known racing drivers, Sebastian Melrose, who is soon to sign up as an official driver for the team.
“The minute I raced with these guys I was completely drawn to them,” said Melrose, a professional Salvadorian racing driver who achieved a podium position for BitcoinRacing at the first race. “The family-run team made me feel at home.”
“Their story and ambitions for where they see themselves in the future got me excited as it’s exactly where I could see myself going before meeting them. The team is the first of its kind to have the support of a Nation and the fact El Salvador is backing the team makes me proud to be a Salvadoran,” he added. “I look forward to working with the team representing my country and being involved in helping the world find Bitcoin."
Meet the team from left to right: Sebastian Melrose (7), Liam Browning (91), Carlos Valderrama (special guest to the first race and founder of Legal Paradox), Charlie Mackenzie (210) and Chris Mackenzie (21).
In addition to the global brand coverage the Bitcoin logo can expect to gain from this massive endeavor, BitcoinRacing also has another trick up their sleeves to increase the brand exposure of Bitcoin even more. The team is in the process of signing a celebrity star driver to their team who is just about to feature on a show with an audience reach of 60 million people. This celebrity will become a driver for the team and a prominent advocate for Bitcoin and the team’s sponsors.
In summary, BitcoinRacing can increase awareness and adoption of Bitcoin by exposing millions of motorsports fans to Bitcoin, by utilizing a celebrity influencer to advocate for Bitcoin, and through marketing support and endorsement from El Salvador. Increasingly, press and social media has gravitated to this singular formula that combines family, cryptocurrency and racing cars.
“After interviewing and getting to know the Bitcoin Racing team I am extremely excited to see what these guys are going to achieve,” said Daniel Prince, founder of the Once BITten podcast. “They are an independent family-focused team that spans 3 generations with the perfect mix of talent, experience, devotion, and passion to realize their dream of entering the Porsche Carrera Cup with a fleet of Bitcoin liveried cars!”
“I will personally do everything I can to help connect the team with people from within the space who share a passion for motorsports and push the message and education of Bitcoin!”
BitcoinRacing is actively looking for sponsorships and would love to hear from you if you’d like your brand to be seen by millions across the globe alongside Bitcoin and the flag of El Salvador. The team is also available to help businesses find distribution partners in El Salvador and support them in launching apps, websites or brands in the country, thanks to their close relationship with the nation.
In addition, if you’d like to support the team you can follow them on Twitter (@bitcoin_racing) and kindly help them with a donation on their website. You can also visit their website at https://bitcoinracing.co.uk to make a donation, and get in contact with the team.
This is a guest post by Charles MacKenzie. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.