Crypto lender Nexo has inked a four-year sponsorship pact with the Audi Revolut Formula 1 team, marking its second major sports deal in just one month after joining forces with the Australian Open tennis grand slam. The agreement, worth tens of millions of dollars according to people familiar with the deal, grants Nexo category exclusivity for digital assets and deep integration into the team's visual identity, with prominent placements on the car livery, helmets, and sleeves of drivers and pit crew. It’s a full-scale branding blitz, ensuring that even if you miss the crypto lender’s logo on the car, you’ll catch it on the pit crew’s sleeves—just in case you needed a reminder that digital assets are everywhere, even on the tarmac.
This move makes Nexo the fourth crypto company to sponsor an F1 team, joining Coinbase's partnership with Aston Martin Aramco, Kraken's deal with Williams Racing, and Bybit's Red Bull Racing sponsorship. The partnership arrives as Audi prepares to enter Formula 1 for the first time in 2026, positioning the collaboration as part of a broader push to engage global audiences through digital-first activations and premium experiences. It’s a strategic lap for Nexo, aligning with Audi’s high-octane ambition to make a splash in the world’s fastest sport, proving that in crypto, if you’re not moving at 200 mph, you might as well be parked in the garage.
The deal follows a broader industry trend where crypto exchanges invested $568 million in sports sponsorships during the 2024-2025 season, with soccer accounting for nearly 60% of all new sponsorships. While crypto advertising boomed in 2021 and 2022, recent partnerships reflect a shift toward sustained brand embedding in elite cultural domains. In other words, the days of flashy, one-off ads are over; now it’s about becoming part of the fabric of the sport, a permanent fixture on the global stage—because in the crypto world, if you’re not sponsoring a Formula 1 team, are you even trying?
