Case Study

Transforming the world’s largest motorsports media platform using Web 3.0

Industry
Gaming, Media, Sports
Service
Business and Technology Strategy, Software Engineering
Technology
Blockchain, Crypto Token, Web 3.0

Challenge

Veloce knows how to win. It has achieved success at breathtaking speed across a diverse portfolio of real-world racing, esports and media, and has attracted millions of highly engaged and passionate fans. 

The challenge for Veloce was to somehow connect its various otherwise disparate activities and create a common platform that would continue to reward, engage and add value to its fans while being bigger than the sum of its parts.  

Veloce instructed MDRx to co-create, validate, design and engineer a transformative Web 3.0 platform that would achieve its corporate goals while further disrupting the traditional sports ownership model. 

Veloce’s ultimate aim is to become the world’s first fan-inspired, fan-led and fan-owned global sporting group. 

Action

We led the product strategy, beginning in Discovery, focussing on understanding the vast existing Veloce ecosystem together with our initial target users for the project – Veloce’s engaged and passionate fans, as well as the wider Web 3.0 community. We recognised up front how different the needs and expectations of these two groups are, though through quantative primary research found that 31% of Veloce’s existing fanbase already owned a cryptoasset wallet of some description. 

We devised and validated key product hypotheses, before designing an impactful initial product including the relevant technology stack to proceed into build. 

We geared all of our engineering towards continually testing and validating our assumptions emphasising user centricity and using Agile Scrum methodology.

Our in-house team of world-class software engineers, designers and product specialists built a sophisticated and immersive Web 3.0 implementation including: 

  • The creation of a new cryptoasset, VEXT, which followed an ERC-20 standard with various extensions to enable it to function well as a governance token in line with Veloce’s corporate aspirations, and was deployed on Polygon for its low cost, high performance and low environmental impact. Polygon is also committed to being carbon-negative by 2023 and is a key concern for Veloce and its fans alike. We architected VEXT and the product in such a way as to ensure it did not constitute a security in the eyes of the relevant financial regulator, amongst other things. 
  • A token bridge to the Ethereum main net, ensuring that VEXT could access and be traded within the vast liquidity present on Layer 1.
  • Development of a bespoke tokenomics strategy to minimise risk whilst maximising stability and sustainable growth during launch and growth phases. This is important to all of MDRx’s clients and to us as an organisation – we are mindful of and do not like the boom and bust nature of many cryptoasset projects and build safeguards to protect against these cycles.
  • Created the VEXTVERSE, a full decentralised app for Veloce fans running multiple features around engagement, rewards and ownership. This included a bespoke motorsport theme to interweave the Web 3.0 product into the Veloce racing context.
  • A system of User Proposals where Veloce fans can vote on Veloce’s sporting and business decisions to truly empower the fanbase.
  • A system of rewards known as Race Clubs to incentivise the community to hold VEXT whilst providing price stability.
  • Boost – a daily game giving the opportunity for fans to win VEXT tokens and unique merchandise. 

We passed a rigorous and professional audit and penetration test with a Tier 1 provider, giving us further confidence that our world-class engineering was robust, resilient and secure. We also procured a world-class Treasurer for the Veloce team, to build its internal capabilities and ensure the VEXT economy will benefit from strict governance in the future. 

Throughout, we navigated the legal and regulatory complexity that comes with any Web 3.0 project by implementing our unique “compliant by design” approach, leveraging best-in-class lawyers from across The MDR Group. This has allowed us to identify the key legal and compliance risks, and build in decisive measures to create a fully compliant implementation.  

Impact

  • An industry-defining first: The VEXTVERSE and VEXT token completely reimagines the approach to fan engagement, ownership and involvement within motorsports.
  • Amplified loyalty: Brings fans closer to the action and allows them to share in Veloce’s success.
     
  • A golden thread across business verticals: The platform achieves the key goal of bringing all of Veloce’s diverse activities together into one cohesive ecosystem.
     
  • De-risking innovation: Legal is baked into every stage of the system’s design and development, allowing Veloce to navigate the rapidly changing Web 3.0 regulatory landscape.
     
  • Attracting significant investment: To date the platform has attracted over GBP 55 million in financing.
     
  • Motorsport is about to change forever: The VEXTVERSE and VEXT token launches in Q3 2023. 

Veloce
Veloce is the world’s largest next-gen racing, gaming, and media ecosystem with over half a billion monthly views across its platforms. This includes leading Esports teams across various motorsport games, as well as real-world racing teams in both Extreme E and W Series.

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