Five of the Most Expensive NFTs Sold in 2019

The crypto gaming market took off in 2019 with some record sales.

The nonfungible token market is one of the most exciting spaces in crypto right now. Significant investments are being made on nonfungible tokens as people diversify their decentralized portfolios in the hope that this promising market continues to grow. As we begin 2020, let’s take a look at five of the most expensive NFTs sold last year.

5. Gods Unchained — Atlas ID #8840817

Price: 210 ETH (approximately $31,500)

Date: Dec. 5, 2019

Gods Unchained is a competitive card game on the Ethereum blockchain and is similar to the popular mainstream title, Hearthstone. The most significant difference between the two is the true ownership mechanic, made possible by Gods Unchained being a blockchain-based game. Players have full control over their cards and can sell them on a marketplace.

Gods Unchained has also been described as the first blockchain-powered esports title. Every year, there will be a Gods Unchained World Championship, with a prize pool of $100,000 plus 10% of all card pack sales. Currently, the total prize pool for the first Gods Unchained Tournament stands at $540,865.

The esports element of the game raises the value of cards as players aim to put together strong decks and be as competitive as possible when participating in the tournament.

Each year, the Gods Unchained team will release a maximum of four “Mythic” cards with strong in-game abilities. Atlas is one of the Mythic cards. A lucky player discovered it in a pack, but didn’t realize the card was worth such a substantial amount. It wasn’t until the Gods Unchained team confirmed the card’s owner that the excitement set in and the value of the digital treasure caught their attention.

In the auction, the bidding started at 165 ETH, before reaching its final price five days later, at 210 ETH. Only time will tell whether this will prove to be a good investment, but the early signs are promising.

4. Gods Unchained — Prometheus ID #5742090

Price: 235 ETH (approximately $35,250)

Date: Dec. 9, 2019

After much anticipation, Gods Unchained launched its marketplace in late November, sparking a frenzy of activity as users began to trade cards. 

Another of the Mythic cards, named Prometheus, was hidden in a random pack and had a one-in-a-million chance of being discovered. The unique properties of the card, couples with its in-game strength, made it the perfect card for those serious about competing for a share of the $500,000 Gods Unchained prize pool.

So, naturally, when Prometheus was put up for sale by the player who discovered it, the card’s high demand fetched 235 ETH at auction. 

3. CryptoSpaceCommanders Battlecruiser ID #3155

Price: 250 ETH (approximately $45,250)

Date: Sept. 19, 2019

Crypto Space Commanders is a sandbox space MMORPG created by Lucid Sight. As Cointelegraph reported in April, Lucid Sight raised a total of $11 million as it seeks to develop its “scarcity engine,” a tool designed to introduce their blockchain-powered games to consoles, PCs and mobile devices.

The game uses the Ethereum blockchain to secure game assets, enforce all in-game contracts, and run the in-game free-market economy, which operates without developer interference. Users can combat other players or explore the universe and mine resources. All resources gained by players are theirs to keep, and they can trade, hold or sell them for a profit.

Every in-game ship is unique and has different properties. The more useful a ship is in helping to build wealth within the game, the more costly it is to purchase.

So, when Battlecruiser ID #3155 arrived on the market in September this year, it was snapped up for a price of 250 ETH.

The battlecruiser was the first of its class to be manufactured and can instantly transport anywhere in the CSC world within 20 lightyears — perfect for sneaking up on enemy ships and executing a deadly ambush.

2. Decentraland — The Secret of Satoshis Tea Garden

Price: 1,299,999 MANA (approximately $80,663)

Date: May 24, 2019

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform on the Ethereum blockchain. It uses the MANA token, which acts as the platform’s currency. The world is split into land parcels, known as LAND, which were sold by Decentraland and bought by the community. LAND owners have the freedom to build strange and unique experiences for Decentraland explorers to enjoy, and can potentially monetize these experiences.

The potential for monetization makes LAND parcels within Decentraland more valuable. The better the location of the LAND, the more its value is perceived to be.

To make it easier to build an empire, Decentraland released an update in August 2018 that gave LAND owners the ability to buy adjacent parcels and merge them into an estate, thereby allowing substantial and more complex scenes to be built.

Estate 331, or “The Secret of Satoshis Tea Garden,” as it was named, was created by the merging of LAND parcels in September 2018. Following its formation, the owner put it on the market. At first, the asking price was a hefty 2,988,000 MANA, but a lack of buyers saw the price decay to a more realistic value of 1,299,999 MANA when it was finally purchased in May.

Located in the game’s sought-after Genesis Plaza, the estate consists of 64 parcels forming a perfect square and is unique, as it is surrounded by roads. The potential build height increases with more contiguous parcels, which means this estate has room for 120 vertical meters of virtual fun.

What the plans are for Estate 331 remain to be seen. The only insight is a cryptic message attached to the estate that states, “the secret to freedom is courage.” Make of that what you will.

1. F1 Delta Time Apex Race Car “1-1-1”

Price: 415.9 ETH (approximately $113,124)

Date: May 27, 2019

In March 2019, game development studio Animoca Brands announced that it had secured an agreement with Formula 1 to develop and publish a blockchain game. The game, F1 Delta Time, allows players to own a digital version of a Formula 1 race car through the use of nonfungible tokens.

It was seen as an exciting move for advocates of blockchain gaming, as Formula 1 is a brand with a broad reach. It broadcasts to over 180 territories and attract a TV audience of about 1.6 billion — suggesting clear potential to bring a new audience to the industry.

The first phase of Animoca Brands’ plan was to create collectible F1 cars, then allowing users to race them at a later date once the gameplay component of the game was released.

The F1 Delta Time team released the car named “1-1-1” on May 24, describing it as a “truly one-of-a-kind digital collectible and a digital milestone in motorsport.” It offered comprehensive in-game capabilities, with performance indices above the maximum levels possible for other cars in the game. 

The winning bid came less than four minutes before the auction closed. The sale had been fiercely contested by two bidders before a third crept up from behind and beat them at the finish line. 

While this sale didn’t beat the 600 ETH record set by CryptoKitties’ “Dragon” in 2018, it is the highest known price paid for an NFT in 2019 and demonstrates that the market is in a healthy state.