Digital art of a rock just sold for 400 Ethererum, or $1.3 million U.S.
Known as “EtherRock,” the cryptocurrency collectible has been around since 2017 making it one of the oldest non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
EtherRock is, as the name implies, a JPEG of a cartoon rock, built and sold on the Ethereum blockchain. There are only 100 available and that scarcity is part of what drove up its price.
According to the EtherRock website: “These virtual rocks serve NO PURPOSE beyond being able to be brought and sold, and giving you a strong sense of pride in being an owner of one of the only 100 rocks in the game :)”
Following this latest sale, the new price floor for an EtherRock NFT has been raised to $1.02 million. Two days ago, the cheapest rock was selling for $305,294. Two weeks ago, the digital art was selling for $97,716.
The run-up in sales price coincides with a wider surge in NFTs, which are blockchain-based tokens signifying ownership of a digital asset. For example, some people are buying digital images of apes and changing their Twitter images to signify membership in the “Bored Ape Yacht Club.”
Following a dip in demand this spring, the overall NFT market staged a massive comeback starting at the end of June.
Even credit card company Visa (NYSE:V) has jumped into the NFT craze. The payments processor announced Monday that it had spent $150,000 U.S. in Ethereum on “CryptoPunk,” one of thousands of NFT-based digital avatars.
