Formula One has joined the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and the LA Dodgers in the race to utilize the distributed ledger technology to create collectibles on the blockchain. F1 Delta Time, the official blockchain-powered gaming outlet for the world’s premier car racing franchise, is today running Pole Position, an auction of the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) associated with the 10 teams involved in the sport, featuring five different rarity levels. The auction will accept bids in ETH, starting at 30 ETH, with owners being encouraged to use their NFTs in forthcoming games.
?We’re excited to announce #PolePositionAuction & a #contest ?is happening NOW – Predict the order of sale for the upcoming auction of official #F1® Team Cars #NFTs and win from a prize pool of 30 ETH and ?F1®NFTs! ??https://t.co/niYsAmZgdp#F1DeltaTime pic.twitter.com/z5jC6BrRkj
— F1® Delta Time (@F1DeltaTime) November 24, 2019
Gentlemen, Start Your Blockchains
The auction will feature all the F1 team cars, with the most sought-after models naturally expected to attract the highest bids. Winning bidders will be able to use their NFT car in a forthcoming blockchain-powered game from F1 Delta Time, which is a departure from the model most of the soccer teams have adopted which only involves collectible player cards of different types with a view to being held and potentially sold later on. The idea of using the NFTs for the purposes of further interaction such as competing against each other represents a new and exciting direction for blockchain collectibles.
Burgeoning Ecosystem
The deal comes just days after crypto exchange operator Gemini bought out crypto collectible gateway Nifty, with co-founder Tyler Winklevoss calling NFTs “the perfect digital, form factor for crypto-collectibles, crypto-art, and much more.” The blockchain world has already seen property and artwork tokenized and issued on the blockchain, while Overstock’s tZERO platform exists to serve the burgeoning digital securities market. It is no surprise therefore that entities such as sports franchises are making the most of this new technology to offer their legions of fans new ways to interact with their product, and as the ability to do so becomes more streamlined and mainstream it is likely that official collectibles will become highly sought after.
