The McLaren Racing Formula One team is using Tezos to build its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Platform for fans. They’re working with the Tezos Foundation on this project and the McLaren team members will wear Tezos branding as well. The collaboration will include the team’s Formula One, INDYCAR, and esports activities. Red Bull racing is working on a similar project with Tezos.
Tezos is a decentralized app platform that facilitates the creation of open marketplaces that treat everyone fairly, and is also accessible to anyone and at all times of day. This mirrors the benefits of Ethereum, albeit with significantly lower fees and quicker transaction settlement. One benefit of this move is raising funds from the sale of NFTs to fans.
One of the reasons Tezos was selected for this project was its low carbon footprint and energy efficiency. This also matters if you look at it from a publicity standpoint, since Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies using the more energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus algorithms have been bashed in the media recently.
It’s also worth noting that Ethereum’s transaction fees are cost-prohibitive if you’re transferring NFTs or any other tokens — over $100 per transaction in extreme cases. This, combined with longer transaction settlement times would deter users from buying McLaren’s NFTs on Ethereum. This is why Ethereum is trying to transition to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.
Tezos — a self-amending distributed ledger technology (DLT) uses a delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm called Emmy+ instead of mining. This means that instead of mining transactions, Tezos token holders can instead stake their tokens and use them to vote if they are running a Tezos node (a Tezos node is called a ‘baker’).
They can also delegate their tokens to other Tezos nodes/bakers if they don’t want to run their own node. The block creation process on Tezos is called ‘baking’, while it is called ‘mining’ on Ethereum. Bakers are the block producing nodes on the Tezos blockchain.