Next to Nice: A tale of two Slovenian cryptocurrency sponsorships – CyclingTips

A handful of occasions a 12 months, the professional street cyclists of the world compete of their nationwide kits slightly than their commerce crew ones. Within the case of Slovenia’s Tadej ‘Tufts’ Pogačar, that implies that in the course of his time in Wollongong he’s swapped the white, black and purple of UAE Staff Emirates for a lime inexperienced Slovenian equipment. 

Though the riders aren’t repping their common sponsors, that doesn’t imply their Worlds kits are a sponsor-free zone. Nationwide federations usually have their very own crop of backers, and within the case of Slovenia – in pleasure of place throughout their riders’ chests and backsides – is the identify ‘NiceHash’, a cryptocurrency platform which is formally headquartered within the British Virgin Islands however in sensible phrases primarily based in Slovenia. 

If a Slovenian crypto sponsor is ringing some bells for you, it’s most likely due to an ill-fated WorldTour sponsorship from the second half of the 2022 season. Don’t worry: that was NextHash, and that is NiceHash.

However the two are linked. 

As CyclingTips reported earlier this 12 months, NextHash founder Ana Benčič was at one level a 35% shareholder within the soundalike, NiceHash. The latter firm was dealing with smash after having US$80 million of bitcoin stolen by a crew of North Korean navy hackers – simply the tip of the loopy iceberg that’s that story – they usually accepted Benčič’s provide of funding to assist proper the ship. 

When it grew to become clear that Benčič didn’t even have the funding lined up, NiceHash sued her and her associates resulting in their elimination from the corporate. Benčič had caught the crypto bug, nonetheless, and went on to ascertain the similarly-named NextHash quickly after. “Even the selection of identify for her firm is a bit humorous to say the least, and her printed supplies are similar to NiceHash,” NiceHash CMO Joe Downie instructed CyclingTips. “We simply hope individuals don’t confuse us [for NextHash], as we’re operating a profoundly totally different sort of enterprise.”

Slovenia is a small nation with disproportionate clout within the cryptocurrency sector, so regardless of NextHash’s unlucky legacy within the sport, NiceHash was not delay. The corporate signed up as a serious sponsor of the Slovenian Biking Federation earlier this 12 months, inserting their model identify prominently throughout all disciplines of the game for an preliminary time period of 1 12 months. “We’ve got been a smaller sponsor of Slovenian biking occasions for just a few years, and this chance was the subsequent logical step,” Downie instructed CyclingTips. 

The sponsorship includes the jersey placements, banners and flags on race routes, and “video time with Roglič and Pogačar for just a few media campaigns.”

“The objectives are mutually helpful, since we’re selling each a few of Slovenia’s greatest athletes (on their facet) and one of many largest Slovenian crypto corporations (on our facet), and to indicate that crypto is not within the shadows, however receives official, mainstream consideration and is useful to everybody,” Downie stated. 

Whereas NiceHash’s partnership with the Slovenian Biking Federation seems to be going off with no hitch, NextHash’s legacy within the sport is much extra blended. The Staff Qhubeka-NextHash crew it sponsored folded on the finish of 2021, with crew boss Doug Ryder at the moment engaged on a return to the higher divisions of the game. Of NextHash’s lacking sponsorship funds, Ryder instructed CyclingTips right now that “we are attempting to resolve issues and have had contact.”

Current experiences in Slovenian media point out that Benčič has been charged with misuse of firm funds, and will resist eight years’ jail time. 

So, as you watch the lads’s World Championships street race and see Tadej Pogačar animating issues with a crypto model splashed throughout his equipment – keep in mind, that’s GoodHash, not SubsequentHash. For the sake of all concerned, hopefully this one works out.