29.03.2024

Cryptocurrency lover spent $ 176k on digital drawing of a monkey

A fan of cryptocurrencies under the pseudonym gmoney paid 140 ETH or the equivalent of 176 thousand dollars for a digital avatar with a picture of a monkey in the pixel art style. The work is tied to a unique NFT token and represents a series of similar works called CryptoPunk.

According to gmoney itself, there are only about 10 thousand owners of other similar avatars, while the very fact of owning a unique piece of digital art gives crypto enthusiasts a «pass to an elite club.» On his Twitter account, he explained in more detail the reasons for spending such a large amount on a seemingly ordinary picture.

Explaining: NFT token art is a new trend. In general, NFT is a non-fungible – that is, unique – token. This means that there is nothing like this in the world anymore. Moreover, since the blockchain is transparent, this can be easily verified and confirmed. This is what became the reason for the popularity of digital art. In this case, artists link works to unique tokens, and buyers have proof of ownership of the work. In other words, something virtual acquires the property of uniqueness, namely, it attracts investors and collectors.

The boom in digital art and NFT tokens kicked off in 2020. For example, Paris Hilton managed to sell a portrait of her cat for 40 ethers, and the money went to charity. Read more about the story in a separate article.

Digital arts and blockchain

gmoney said that «without a doubt» our world is already going digital, and this process will continue for the next decades. Meanwhile, CryptoPunks are the first NFTs of this kind in the world, and there are only 10 thousand of them – each with its own unique attributes.

This is what the user paid a serious sum for.

This is what the avatar itself looks like for 140 ETH

Several things follow from all this. Representatives of the CryptoPunks series are few and far between, and they have an elite status, notes gmoney. But then why would anyone pay thousands of dollars for them? The answer was extremely honest and simple – yes, this is «flex», that is, the usual desire to show off one’s wealth, uniqueness and fortune in an elite crowd of crypto enthusiasts. Here is a quote from a digital art connoisseur from Decrypt.

Due to the known benefits and varying degrees of rarity, CryptoPunks will trade in an area ranging from 5 ETH to, according to some estimates, 1,000 ETH. But why? Why is this image of any value at all? Because it is «flex».

Accordingly, the investor also counts on the growth in the cost of these works. This means that it is possible that then he will sell it to someone and receive additional profit.

Like a Rolex or Lamborghini watch in real life, expensive NFTs allow people to brag – humanity has had this desire since its earliest days. But as the world began to move towards full digitalization, there was a need for new tools for «flex». Never before have users been able to “own” something digital without relying on a third party to back it up.

The investor continues.

When someone buys a Rolex in the real world, they don’t spend thousands of dollars just for the functions of the watch itself. A simple $ 5 watch can do the same tasks. All this is done for the sake of «emphasizing the status.» To tell everyone: «Look, I have a huge fortune, I can afford this expensive watch.»

In this case, he makes it clear that he acquired the job for crazy money, including because he can do it. Along with the drawing itself, it also gained fame within the community and popularity. Surely this will affect the cost of the work, which in the future may end up with another collector.

Given the sharp rise in hype around NFT, it is possible that this trend will become one of the main ones in 2021, just as the DeFi sector exploded in popularity in 2020. One way or another, it will be interesting to watch the development of new digital art on the blockchain.

We believe that this trend will continue to develop, and digital art will become more and more popular. Obviously, a transparent blockchain is ideal for confirming the uniqueness of a single work, which means that artists are quite happy with it. So it is likely that in the future this seemingly unremarkable drawing will be bought for an even more incredible amount.

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