28.03.2024

Formula 1-Branded Blockchain Game to Auction Digital Race Car Tokens

According to an announcement on Nov. 22, the auction will be held on Nov. 28, with fans already able to participate in a live contest to compete for various related prizes.

Blockchain game F1 Delta Time – licensed by the world-renowned racing series Formula 1 – is holding an auction of F1 car-branded non-fungible tokens (NFTs) later this week.

As previously reported, F1 purportedly draws 1.6 billion television viewers across over 180 territories and engage 506 million fans worldwide.

NFTs to be functional within F1 blockchain game

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens are a form of a digital collectible: non-fungible meaning they are not interchangeable, carrying unique information and varying in their level of rarity.

F1 Delta notes that it has set 5 different rarity levels for the 10 official racing cars set for auction. Each NFT will be usable in the forthcoming official F1 Delta game and will be auctioned simultaneously in a descending Dutch format, with a starting price of 30 Ether (ETH).

All F1 branded team cars will be included in the NFT auction, including Mercedes AMG W10, Ferrari SF90, Red Bull Racing RB15, McLaren MCL34, Renault R.S. 19, Racing Point RP19, Toro Rosso STR14, Alfa Romeo Racing C38, Haas VF-19, and Williams FW42.

According to the announcement, all cars’ performance indices are similar and will be disclosed next week.

F1 Delta’s contest is currently inviting fans to predict the order of sale for the F1 team cars, with prizes including 30 Ether and various types of F1 Delta Time Car Gear NFTs.

Popularizing blockchain

As reported, Formula 1 signed a global licensing agreement with blockchain startup Animoca Brands in March of this year, paving the way for the development of the F1 Delta Time Game.

At the time, both parties underscored the significant brand power of Formula 1 and the new licensing agreement’s potential to broaden consumer exposure to blockchain.

Animoca Brands has also entered into a licensing agreement with Atari – famous for being the developer of iconic video games such as Tetris and Pac Man.

In Feb. 2018, Atari saw its share price skyrocket by over 60% after announcing that it would be investing in cryptocurrency.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made the argument that non-financial blockchain applications can face more difficulty gaining traction and identified developments such as NFTs and gaming as potential areas that can broaden the technology’s appeal.

Former Morgan Stanley Developers Launch Crypto Derivatives Exchange

Eight former core developers from financial services company Morgan Stanley have launched Phemex, a new cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform, in Singapore.

In a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 4, the former Morgan Stanley developers claim the platform is ten times faster than traditional crypto trading platforms, while offering 100x leverage to both retail and institutional investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) perpetual contracts.

Exchange is “on par with Nasdaq”

In the near future, these contracts will reportedly also be backed by traditional financial products, such as stock indexes, interest rates, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, and metals and energy. Phemex co-founder Jack Tao said:

“We are the first exchange to truly bring Wall Street level sophistication to the worldwide crypto derivatives markets. Our matching engine, trading engine, and risk engine were six months in the making, putting the platform technically on par with Nasdaq.”

Tao, who spent 11 years as an executive at Morgan Stanley, told Cointelegraph that the platform was looking to add options trading soon. In launching Phemex, Tao assembled a team of more than 30 senior developers. He explained:

“We’re not just providing the functionality for trading. As executives from Morgan Stanley, we know what kind of ways, what kind of direction, or what kind of architecture can support high-frequency trading, stability, and low latency. This is where Phemex excels – our expertise allows us to compete with and outperform existing platforms.”

Tao told Cointelegraph that since the Nov. 25 launch, Phemex has seen volume of around 1000 BTC per day on BTC/USD contracts.

Singapore regulators take a closer look at crypto derivatives

In November, Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), proposed to bring crypto derivatives trading under its purview. The MAS’ proposal would make the trading of derivatives based on underlying assets like Bitcoin and Ether subject to the city-state’s Securities and Futures Act. For Phemex, a Singapore-domiciled company, the proposal by the MAS comes at a perfect time as it may soon allow cryptocurrency-based derivatives to be traded on regulated platforms.

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