How crypto and NFT help fund a racing team in W Series

MANILA, Philippines — Motorsport can be one of the most brutal sports when it comes to financing a team or an athlete.

Arguably one of the most expensive sports to get into, investors can come and go very quickly in competitions like Formula 1 and NASCAR.

That's why Michael Livingston, CEO of Community Owned Racing Team DAO (cortDAO) in W Series, has thought of a unique way to build and keep his team in the motorsport scene.

Also a supporter of crypto, Livingston is looking to tap the Web3 community, which incorporates concepts like decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics, to help him invest in women in motorsport.

"I've always looked for ways to bring different communities together, in whatever topic," Livingston said in an interview with Philstar.com.

"I've been seeing that women haven't been given the same opportunities as men in racing and you can see it in the numbers in go karting and until a series like W Series were established, we haven't had that next stepping stone for women to get into Formula 1. Now that a series has been created, we can actually build on it," he added.

Livingston said that since creating the team earlier this year, he has been looking to integrate the crypto community into the racing scene with cortDAO.

Most recently, the team launched an NFT (non-fungible token) initiative to help finance and invest in women in W Series.

Though results have not been eyepopping yet, the CEO is keen on working with the momentum that has been built.

"I've seen encouraging signs.. The whole idea with the community is really looking to engage with people who think the same way, the crypto market allows you to do that in a very cost effective way," said Livingston.

"It's still a very small group of people and I also think that it's tough place to be at the moment. I think crypto is having a growing up moment but I think a lot of things will be shifted through to genuine projects that have utility value will actually be something that every body else wants to be part of," he added.

The NFT initiative saw a total of 10,000 NFTs depicting two bespoke cortDAO Racing assets issued and the proceeds of which will be going to either the team's racers or investment in W Series.

For Livingston, it was a way that members of the crypto community who also had an interest in motorsport to share in the team's mission and success.

"How do you get users to have part of the success on what you're building? So that's what we tried with the said NFT," said Livingston.

"We wanted to get something off the ground and just see how the market took it. This will not be our last project... The whole NFT project was really just to assess even in a down market, what kind of appetite there is to support this kind of thing. I think there's a lot of education I still need to do but I think this was just a small stepping stone in trying to create something bigger and identify the people who are along for the ride," he added.

Currently, the W Series season is in full swing and drivers Fabienne Wohlwend and Marta Garcia are in the middle of the pack in the standings.

Wohlwend is 9th in the championship race with 14 points while Garcia is ranked 11th with 10 markers.

CortDAO is also seventh in the constructors championship with 24 points.

A Filipino driver is also racing in W Series as Bianca Bustamante is in her rookie year with the W Series Academy Team.