It’s a Thursday night in early March. More than 50,000 people are gathered for one of the biggest parties of 2021. There isn’t a DJ or a constant flow of drinks. Instead the celebrity guest of honour is Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple. The crowd has gathered on the audio-only social media app Clubhouse for the live stream of the auction of Beeple’s digital NFT, Everydays: The First 5000 Days. Cheers erupt as the crowd watches the numbers tick higher. As it stops at US$69 million, Winkelmann talks to the crowd. “Dude,” he says, “that was unreal.”
Buying a form of digital art for US$69 million seems like an insane move, given the state of the world. But NFT collecting isn’t just for Bitcoin whales and kids looking to park their #YOLO money. Investors, art collectors and fashion brands see the value in having a stake in an asset as a tool to build generational wealth and protect intellectual property.
“This seemed like it was such a new and, in some ways, bizarre concept, but digital art and communities rallying around the art or artist have been around for a long time,” says Nicholas Black, manager of digital assets and cryptocurrency and the owner of several Beeple NFTs. “As a collector and investor, blockchain authentication via Ethereum is interesting. Blockchain takes ownership of digital art because you, like the artist, have a stake in the art. You are just as vested in the provenance of the digital product as much as the artist, and blockchain allows you to see the chain of ownership. Why own a photo taken from your phone of the Mona Lisa when you can actually own the Mona Lisa?”
What is an NFT?
Bu hikaye VOGUE India dergisinin July 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye VOGUE India dergisinin July 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Current affairs
Elif Shafak’s work abounds with references, memories and a deep love of Istanbul. She talks to AANCHAL MALHOTRA about the significance of home and those who shape our recollections of the past
A drop of nostalgia
A whiff of Chanel N°5 L'Eau acts as a memory portal for TARINI SOOD, reminding her of the constant tussle between who we are and who we hope to become
Wild thing's
Zebras hold emerald-cut diamonds, panthers morph into ring-bracelets that move and a turtle escapes to become a brooch -Cartier's high jewellery collection Nature Sauvage is a playground of the animal kingdom.
Preity please
Two surprise red-carpet appearances and a movie announcement have everyone obsessing over Preity Zinta. The star behind the aughties’ biggest hits talks film wardrobe favourites, social media and keeping it real.
Honeymoon travels
Destination locked, visas acquired, bookings madewhat could stand between a newly-wed couple and pure, unadulterated conjugal bliss in some distant, romantic land? A lot, finds JYOTI KUMARI. Styled by LONGHCHENTI HANSO LONGCHAR
La La Land
They complete each other’s sentences, make music together and get lost on the streets of Paris—this is the love story of Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth.
A SHORE THING
Annalea Barreto and Mavrick Cardoz eschewed the big fat Goan wedding for a DIY, intimate, seaside affair that was true to their individual selves.
7 pheras around the buffet
Celebrating the only real love affair each wedding season: me and a feast.
Saving AI do
From getting ChatGPT to plan your wedding itinerary to designing your moodboard on Midjourneytech is officially third-wheeling the big fat Indian wedding
Love bomb me, please
Between breadcrumbing, cushioning and situationships, the language of romance seems to be lost in translation. SAACHI GUPTA asks, where has the passion gone?