Free Rock Clipart Literally Worth Nothing Sells For Over $300K As An NFT
Photo ID 3084418 © Audiffret | Dreamstime.com
If you thought owning a pet rock was ridiculous, wait till you see how much it might be worth in the non-fungible token (NFT) market.
“This is the stupidest or the most incredible decision of our lives,” says 25-year-old Maximilian Zim in a statement obtained by Motherboard. Zim paid about US$25,000 for a virtual rock two weeks ago.
Now, at the time of writing, an EtherRock can be sold for up to 96 ETH (US$314,852). The most absurd part, though, is that the artwork costs nothing at all. The 2D illustration can be downloaded from royalty-free clipart platform Clipart Library, and all the NFT creator did was change the rock’s color 100 different ways.
Looks like the last #NFT of 2017 (Dec 26th) just woke up: https://t.co/5bUsba02aw
— 0xMeow (@0x_meow) August 4, 2021
100 digital pet rocks on the $ETH chain, increasing price via bonding curve.
Final 100th @EtherRock minted will cost near 10E, current price is 2.4E.
50/100 minted.
NFA - I'm in. pic.twitter.com/toXJR4JeeZ
Transaction records in EtherScan date the EtherRock project’s beginnings to 2017. However, most purchases took place in the last two weeks, following a tweet by entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk which brought people’s attention to the collection.
While Zim acknowledged the strangeness of spilling thousands on free, four-year-old clipart, it was “FOMO” that persuaded him into buying a piece himself. “In a way it’s like looking at a caveman painting, but being able to have every piece of the puzzle verified. Really a permanent piece of history,” he added.
A diamond in the rough, perhaps?
Ether Rocks are the ultimate store of value/ inflation hedge.
— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) August 9, 2021
There are 7bn people in the world ,21m Bitcoin-But only 100 Rocks in the world.
Can you imagine what happens when institutional money starts flowing into rocks?
It's a matter of time until a Rocks ETF is approved. pic.twitter.com/7EUyGynoml
[via VICE, images via various sources]
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