Announcing The Bitcoin Car
Yo. Today I am thrilled to reveal that the world’s first Bitcoin Car will be racing at the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. Future hall of fame auto racing driver Ed Carpenter of Ed Carpenter Racing has forfeited all sponsors this year and together we are breaking the traditional sponsorship model. We have officially teamed up to race the Bitcoin car, racing for Bitcoin awareness and Bitcoin open-source development.
On your marks. This year, the greatest spectacle in racing and one of America’s favorite pastimes will have a Bitcoin car. For the first time in history, an orange-spotted, Bitcoin-covered, engineering beast is going to race 500 miles in front of millions of people. I’d like to make this point very clear: this isn’t the Strike car, the Coinbase car, the Kraken car, etc. Why? Because fuck that, nobody wants to cheer for that. This is the Bitcoin car.
On May 30th, Ed’s team will take the track to race car #21, the Bitcoin car. In a world of potato chip and energy drinks sponsors, Ed chose to race for human freedom, financial literacy, financial inclusivity, savings technology, and Bitcoin open-source development.
The Story
On April 15th, 2021 at 12:06pm CT I received an email from David Ravensberg.
Indy 500 Opportunity
Jack,
Reaching out today on behalf of my close friend and Indy Car driver/team owner, Ed Carpenter of Ed Carpenter Racing. …as a fellow HODLer we are considering running a “Bitcoin car” — all orange car with the Bitcoin logo on the front. Similar to Russell Okung, was wondering if there was a play to partner with Strike on this…
I’ll never forget receiving that email. Growing up in the United States, whether you like sports, whether you like racing, if you were born yesterday, you know the Indy 500. The Indy 500 is one of the most popular sporting events in America. Every year for memorial day weekend the world gathers around their TV to watch the best drivers in the world compete for their dream: an Indy 500 1st place finish, a milk chug, and of course, kissing the bricks.
I responded to David’s email with my phone number and was on the phone with him and Ed the next day.
On that call, Ed really moved me.
“You don’t become an IndyCar driver to get rich. This is a career driven by passion. Over the last year, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole and become a Bitcoiner. I believe Bitcoin represents a better world. I don’t want to race for chips or beer this year. I’ve worked my entire life to race at the Indy 500 and have earned the platform that I have, and this year, I want to find a way to incorporate Bitcoin”
I loved everything about it. To Ed, this wasn’t about maximizing his sponsorships. This wasn’t a popularity contest. This wasn’t about looking cool on TV. To Ed, this was about using the platform he’s earned to push humanity forward. This was bigger than Ed, bigger than racing, bigger than anything he’d ever done before. Turns out, Ed has car #21, and is racing directly next to the PNC Bank car. You can’t write a script like this.
While on the call with Ed, I erupted with an idea; forfeit all your sponsors. If we put Bitcoin on a global stage the community will take care of the rest and we can crowdsource funding to make this the single biggest Bitcoin awareness + Bitcoin open-source funding event in the asset’s history.
I admittedly didn’t know much about racing, but I know product, and I know Bitcoin. The Bitcoin community is the most passionate community the world has ever seen. A community of people so crazy that not only did they think they can re-architect money from scratch, they did. I had all the confidence that we, the Bitcoin community, would raise millions of dollars and make history.
I proposed 70% of all donations go towards funding open-source Bitcoin development and the other 30% will ensure the car is funded. Once we have obtained the necessary capital to fund the car, the 30% will then be donated to local Indianapolis charities such as the Riley Hospital for Children. I urged Ed and his team to give it some thought and sleep on it. If he was on board, I’d give it all I got. Ed called me the next day, “I’m in”.
I hung up, opened my sketchbook, and started drawing. Within a day we had the beginnings of what would become history. The production had to be Bitcoin everything. Not just the car, but the uniforms, the pit crew suits, the luggage vehicles. Hell, even the umbrellas. Everything will have a Bitcoin logo on it, no gear left behind. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this.
Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, the #21 Bitcoin Car at the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Drivers, start your fucking engines!
What’s Next
A future hall of fame IndyCar driver has generously donated the #21 Indy 500 car to the Bitcoin community. Bitcoin is trading just below $60,000. Bitcoin is being used as a reserve asset for corporate treasuries. Bitcoin companies are going public. What’s next? You know damn well what’s next. Bitcoin is going to win the Indianapolis 500 before the race even starts.
Whether you’re a public company holding Bitcoin, an exchange listing Bitcoin, a wallet that supports Bitcoin, a trader who trades Bitcoin, or a pleb who shitposts about Bitcoin, we all have one thing in common:
We’re forever in debt to the open-source community that has made Bitcoin what it is today, and that will continue to build Bitcoin into what it is destined to be tomorrow.
This isn’t a payday for Ed. This isn’t a payday for Strike. Nobody is making money on this project, it’s not about a payday. This is about supporting Bitcoin awareness and supporting open-source Bitcoin development. This is about forgetting our differences for the next two and a half weeks, locking arms, and making history as a community.
I don’t care if you have $1 to donate or $1,000,000 to donate. Donate. Participate. Hold your favorite exchange accountable. Hold your favorite wallet accountable. Hold your favorite Twitter trader accountable. Hold yourself accountable. Humanity is forever in debt to the bright minds that contribute to Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin network is the most powerful monetary network in the world. It operates 24/7/365. It’s global and has cheap and near-instant cash finality. So, as the Bitcoin car, we’re taking advantage of all the Bitcoin network has to offer. There is a Bitcoin address in QR code format on the car itself. This will be the primary on-chain address used for donations through the race.
You can also donate via Lightning and/or on-chain at strike.me/racing, or email racing@strike.me if you’d like to make a larger contribution.
No matter who you are, where you are, what wallet you have, how much you’d like to donate, you can donate. That’s the #Bitcoin way 👊 ✊
We are currently working with the Human Rights Foundation, Square Crypto, MIT, and more to coordinate the disbursements within the Bitcoin open-source community. The cherry on top? After the race, the #21 Bitcoin Car will be shipped to Miami for the Bitcoin2021 conference where I will be announcing all of the Bitcoin open-source funding efforts.
The Indy 500 will be the largest sporting event since COVID with 144,000 in-person attendance. The event will be nationally televised with millions watching. The stage has never been bigger. The lights have never been brighter. Our time is now.
Thanks
Alright, ladies and gentlemen, that’s all I have for now. All of this on the morning of the highest rise in consumer prices CPI inflation since 2008. The world needed a Bitcoin car at the Indy 500. Now we have it.
As soon as I finished my first sketch of what would become the Bitcoin car, I called my good friend Ross Stevens, founder and executive chairman of NYDIG. Before I could even finish the story, he was in:
“Jack, I’m in for $250,000”
We were off to the races 😃
I personally will be donating $25,000 and Strike will be donating $100,000. As of writing, before this announcement, we have already eclipsed $1,000,000 of funding thanks to:
- Ross Stevens/NYDIG
- Robby Gutmann/NYDIG
- Pomp
- Jeff Booth
- David Heller
- CMT Digital
- Don Wilson/Cumberland
- Chris Zuehlke/Cumberland
- Russell Okung
- Peter McCormack
- Bill Mallers
- Brooke Mallers
We have verbal commitments to participate from:
Who is missing? Who is next?
I think this will be the biggest Bitcoin open-source funding event in history. I think this will go down as one of the most memorable moments in sports. I think we can raise over $5M. Am I crazy? Am I wildly ambitious? Yeah, probably. I’ve gone to war for Bitcoin my entire life and I will die on this hill. We will fund open-source development, research, and put on for one of mankind’s greatest creations.
We have a suite at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and I will be at the race in a Bitcoin jumpsuit going nuts for car #21. I know Russ and SB are joining me. If you’re a large donor, passionate Bitcoiner, HODLer of last resort, etc., and want to attend, you can contact me @JackMallers on Twitter or racing@strike.me via email.
To donate, you can:
- Send Bitcoin to the address on the car 3GCLkEZrhQ7AdPA7t3SvhoBixQWs1he6SQ
- Donate via the Lightning Network and/or on-chain at strike.me/racing
- Contact racing@strike.me for larger donations, corporate donations, and fiat donations
Our time is now. I’m so proud of this community. Let’s go win a fucking race and fund open-source development!
Much love. Be easy. We’ll talk soon.
Peace out 👊 🍻
