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A Burned Up Banksy NFT Just Sold For $382k
Summary: According to Decrypt, A tokenized version of a now-destroyed Banksy painting called ‘Morons’ was sold at the NFT auction on OpenSea for 228.69 ETH or $382,336 to bidder 'GALAXY' late this afternoon. The enigmatic British street artist's original painting was first sold for £16,250 in 2006. It depicts a crowded auction house. The lot for ...
According to Decrypt, A tokenized version of a now-destroyed Banksy painting called ‘Morons’ was sold at the NFT auction on OpenSea for 228.69 ETH or $382,336 to bidder 'GALAXY' late this afternoon.
The enigmatic British street artist's original painting was first sold for £16,250 in 2006. It depicts a crowded auction house. The lot for sale behind the auctioneer is a framed canvas that simply reads: “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU MORONS ACTUALLY BUY THIS SHIT.”
Earlier this year a group of blockchain investors and professionals bought 'Morons' for $95k after it was verified by Banksy authentication body Pest Control. This group included members of decentralized finance (DeFi) projects Injective Protocol and SuperFarm. They then uploaded a video of themselves burning the work in front of the camera on March 3.
They indicate that they view this burning event as an expression of art itself. They are generating a new form of artwork via the creation of this unique NFT that is a direct representation of the physical. The reason the burning itself is so important is that as long as the physical piece exists, the value of that piece will remain with the physical. However, if they entirely re-create the physical piece and input specifications such as the art version number into the smart contract code, no one can ever alter the digital art in any way. In this way, the physical piece will forever be memorialized in this NFT.
by Sara Zhang
