Ferrari’s new deal with blockchain firm Velas hints at NFTs

Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari is moving into the blockchain industry by inking a partnership with Swiss blockchain startup Velas Network.

Ferrari officially announced Monday that it had signed a multi-year agreement with Velas to jointly issue “exclusive digital content” for the Scuderia’s fans. Velas will also be the main sponsor for Ferrari Esports Series, the online series competing in the F1 Esports Series, the official digital championship including all teams participating in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

The announcement describes Velas as a major company in the industry of digital assets and blockchain, emphasizing the startup’s focus on nonfungible tokens (NFT):

“A global player in the blockchain and NFT sector, Velas has distinguished itself through the performance and innovation of its services and its technological leadership, characteristics that unite it with the Maranello team.”

Scuderia Ferrari general manager Mattia Binotto noted that the company chose Velas as one of its premium partners, as the companies share values such as innovation and performance of technologically advanced products and services.

Farkhad Shagulyamov, a co-founder and newly appointed CEO of Velas, said that it was natural for Velas to partner with “another icon of excellence, which is Ferrari.”

“Velas has introduced an innovative variety of pioneering technology into the blockchain and associated products, which will now be showcased at the pinnacle of motorsport,” he noted.

— Farkhad S (@SFarkhad) December 27, 2021

Ferrari and Velas did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Related: Global search interest for ‘NFT’ surpasses ‘crypto’ for the first time ever

Velas is an open-source blockchain network working to provide a mix of the best features of centralized and decentralized tools. As of October, the firm allocated $100 million to startups building on top of the Velas blockchain, which was a significant surge from its initial pledge of $5 million.

Velas (VLX), the native token of the Velas blockchain, has edged up significantly recently. Trading at $0.346, the token is up around 4% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko. VLX is up more than 70% over the past seven days.