The Current Meta
On June 19, 2019, Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd (ASX:AB1) opened the auction for its second official Formula 1 non-fungible token — the Monaco Edition 2019 virtual race car. The auction, which began at 2:00 AM GMT and ran for 72 hours, invited Ethereum wallet holders to bid in ether on a one-of-a-kind digital asset tied to one of motorsport’s most prestigious circuits. The launch came on the heels of a record-setting first sale: the 1-1-1 race car NFT, which fetched 415.9 ether — roughly US$113,000 at the time — marking one of the highest prices ever paid for a branded game NFT and the largest ether-denominated sale of a single virtual item outside of CryptoKitties.
The timing was no accident. Bitcoin was surging past $9,200 on June 19, driven in part by Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency announcement just days earlier. Ethereum traded around $269, and the broader crypto market cap stood above $290 billion. The rally created a favorable environment for high-value NFT auctions, as crypto-native buyers flush with gains looked for new ways to deploy capital.
Volume & Floor Dynamics
The F1 Delta Time platform had already generated significant revenue before the Monaco Edition listing. In total, the project sold approximately US$365,000 worth of digital collectibles in its early auction rounds — a figure that placed it among the top-grossing NFT gaming projects of 2019. The 1-1-1 car, as the first officially licensed Formula 1 NFT, established the price ceiling: 415.9 ether, or approximately A$160,000. That sale demonstrated that collectors were willing to pay luxury-car prices for unique digital items with verifiable scarcity on the Ethereum blockchain.
The Monaco Edition 2019 entered the market with a different profile. Inspired by the red and white livery of Monaco’s coat of arms and the ruling House of Grimaldi, the car carried both aesthetic and narrative appeal. As a one-of-a-kind in-game asset usable within F1 Delta Time’s racing ecosystem, it represented a blend of collectible art and functional gaming item — a dual utility model that few NFT projects had successfully executed at the time.
Community Sentiment
Animoca Brands chairman and co-founder Yat Siu framed the auction as more than a product launch — it was a philosophical statement about digital property rights. In a letter to shareholders dated June 19, Siu declared that the company was “making history by defining — and redefining — what it means to have true digital ownership.” He argued that NFTs were enabling entirely new economic systems that existed “persistently and independently of other products and services in the digital world.”
Siu pointed to the macro backdrop: more than 2 billion gamers worldwide spending an average of 7 hours per week in virtual environments. “For the first time,” he wrote, “the billions of hours that our species invests in consuming interactive entertainment can be made to deliver or generate direct, real value.” The argument resonated with a crypto community already primed to believe in the transformative potential of blockchain technology, and it positioned Animoca Brands as a leading voice in the emerging play-to-earn movement well before that term entered mainstream discourse.
The Next Evolution
The Formula 1 NFT auctions represented a critical proof of concept for branded digital collectibles. By securing an official F1 license and delivering functional in-game items with real scarcity, Animoca demonstrated that traditional entertainment brands could extend their IP into blockchain-based economies. The model — licensed IP plus limited-edition NFTs plus gameplay utility — became a template that dozens of projects would follow in the coming years.
The auction format itself also mattered. By requiring Ethereum wallets and accepting bids in ether, F1 Delta Time introduced a mainstream sports audience to crypto-native transaction mechanics. Participation required a web browser supporting Ethereum wallets, creating a friction point but also an educational gateway. Each bid was a small onboarding moment for users who might never have interacted with a blockchain otherwise.
Investor Takeaway
For NFT market participants in mid-2019, the F1 Delta Time auctions offered several signals. First, branded NFTs with real-world IP recognition could command prices comparable to physical collectibles. Second, the gaming sector was emerging as the primary use case for NFTs, far ahead of digital art or profile pictures, which would not explode until 2021. Third, Animoca Brands was assembling a portfolio of licensed properties and blockchain gaming titles that positioned it as a dominant player in the space — a position it would only strengthen over the following years as it invested in The Sandbox, OpenSea, and dozens of other NFT and metaverse projects.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. NFT investments carry significant risk, including the potential for total loss. Past auction results do not guarantee future performance. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.
monaco edition 2019 car auction with a 72-hour window. animoca knew exactly how to create artificial scarcity. say what you want about nfts but the marketing was brilliant
btc at $9200 and eth at $269 during this auction. the libra announcement pumped everything including nft bidding. timing was perfect
Mei F. the libra announcement was such a catalyst for the entire space. zuckerberg legitimized crypto for a brief moment before congress killed it
trackside_ libra didnt legitimize crypto, it made governments realize they needed to move fast on regulation. the opposite of what zuck wanted
lena h. is correct. libra made governments move on regulation faster than anyone expected.
Mei F. the Libra pump inflated everything including NFT bidding. remove that catalyst and 415 ETH for a jpeg car looks insane even by 2019 standards
Dimitri P. removing the Libra catalyst and that 415 ETH bid looks like pure insanity. FOMO did more pricing than fundamentals ever did
72 hour auction window on the monaco edition was smart psychology. forces FOMO bids from people who cant sit and wait 7 days
415.9 ETH for a single F1 car NFT in 2019 was absolutely insane. that purchase is probably underwater now in ETH terms
kofi a. has a point. 415.9 eth for that car nft in 2019 looks underwater in eth terms today.
Kofi A. 415.9 ETH at 2019 prices was about 113k USD. in ETH terms today thats probably worth more than the NFT itself lol
Kofi A. that 415.9 ETH buyer is sitting on a historical artifact now. probably worth more as a museum piece than as an NFT at this point
garage_kid the crazy part is that 2019 F1 NFTs are some of the earliest branded digital collectibles that still exist on chain. most of that era got lost to rug pulls and abandoned contracts. these survived. thats real digital provenance right there
@Kofi A. disagree, in ETH terms its down but the NFT itself is a piece of crypto history. first major branded game asset sale on chain
animoca is still one of the biggest players in web3 gaming. yat siu built an empire from those early f1 nft sales
paddock_crypto yat siu basically turned those F1 NFT sales into seed money for an entire web3 portfolio. animoca went from flipping nascar and F1 car jpegs to funding sandbox, axie, and like 400 other projects. wild trajectory
415.9 ETH for a jpeg car in 2019. at todays ETH price thats what, over a million bucks for an NFT nobody talks about anymore
eth_floplord_ 415.9 ETH at 2019 prices was 113K USD. today that ETH is worth 1.6M. the NFT itself probably trades below 50K. thats a -95% real return
72 hour auction window in 2019 felt cutting edge. now we have 15 minute mints that sell out in 3 seconds to bots. nostalgia hitting different
nft_grandpa is right. 72 hour auctions felt new in 2019 but now everything sells in seconds to bots.
nft_grandpa 72 hour windows to 3 second bot snipes. the tech got faster but the experience got worse for actual humans
Yat Siu turned F1 jpeg proceeds into a 400 company portfolio. say what you want about NFTs in 2019, that deployment of capital was elite
the monaco connection is perfect for this. people forget monaco is ground zero for luxury branding and exclusivity. slapping the blockchain label on F1 cars was always going to work because the target audience already thinks in terms of scarcity and status. animoca understood that assignment early
415.9 ETH for a digital car when ETH was $269. that buyer spent the equivalent of a house on a JPEG race car and probably still has it
Libra announcement was peak 2019 energy. Zuck testified, congress freaked out, and somehow an F1 NFT auction was the real winner that week lol
garage_kept_ Libra was the catalyst nobody wanted to admit. remove the Zuck testimony hype and that auction clears at 80 ETH max