‘Girlfriend’ NFTs Are Attracting Collectors, Who Have Spent Over $1M To Woo Them
Image via Bull Market Girlfriends
While the advent of the internet has allowed people to connect with friends on the other side of the planet, it’s also highlighted a loneliness epidemic affecting many.
Understandably, socially-starved individuals often turn to technology for interaction and comfort, leading to inventions such as a Microsoft AI chatbot that double up as lovers.
More recently, it appears that with the introduction of blockchain, and its digital art craze, people have begun to look for partners in the most unlikely of places: non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Bull Market Girlfriends, a collection that’s garnered tons of media attention, allows users to acquire a ‘Beauty Queen Girlfriend’; ‘Devilish Girlfriend’; ‘Good Girl Girlfriend’; or for the discerning buyer, an ‘Alien Girlfriend’. And since its inception, it’s raked up over US$1 million in sales.
According to Motherboard, the portraits were initially based on real women such as movie star Lindsay Lohan. It was then expanded by husband and wife team Kristina K and Martin Lavoie to include amalgated images of different individuals.
As expected, the assortment of female faces has drawn criticism, with some feeling as though buying and selling pictures of women, especially ones framed as romantic partners, sends a rather sexist message. However, the couple argues their collection draws from the long artistic history of portraits of women.
“The project is led, designed, and executed by a woman. Beautiful women have always been the subject of art since cave drawings. They are inspiring. This is not meant to be diminutive, but empowering,” the duo said.
Despite the mixed reactions, there’s evidence that Bull Market Girlfriends are the new popular girls in town. The initial mint sold out in just under an hour, with the brand’s popularity growing with each drop. At the moment, the least expensive portrait on OpenSea is going for 6.5 ETH, or US$27,000.
Admittedly, purchasing an NFT girlfriend might not be for everyone. But with the pair making nearly US$1,500,000 from the collection thus far, it does seem that there’s a market for digital partners on the web.
Meet Girlfriend #74
— Bull Market Girlfriends | NFT collectibles (@bullgirlfriends) October 22, 2021
She’s @KrisK_NFT’s favourite so far pic.twitter.com/wOc2F54XQh
Meet Girlfriend #75 ;) pic.twitter.com/0NeM33kowt
— Bull Market Girlfriends | NFT collectibles (@bullgirlfriends) October 23, 2021
Meet Girlfriend #73
— Bull Market Girlfriends | NFT collectibles (@bullgirlfriends) October 20, 2021
She will be dropped in our Discord soon. There will be a raffle to mint her.https://t.co/SKKNxNawOl pic.twitter.com/tXEMdq4oIW
[via Motherboard, cover image via Bull Market Girlfriends]
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