From Dog Memes To $69m NFTs : How Irony, Crypto & Creators Are Reshaping The World We Live In
What. On. Earth. Is. Going. On? A collection of 5000 digital compositions by the creator, Beeple, have just sold at auction for $69m. The collection was made available via a Non Fungible Token (NFT), a one-of-a-kind, verifiable asset built on the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrencies.
So how did we get here? Are NFTs just the latest in a string of trendy assets to own, alongside Tesla stock and Bitcoin?
Or is there something deeper connecting the forces driving our popular culture — from ironic memes to our belief in the power of new technologies to remake the world?
Doge
Economic historians will argue when and where this techno-cultural cycle originated. Perhaps Doge (real name Shiba) will be identified as the source. Hidden behind that startled gaze is a depth of understanding few can fathom.
Comic Sans
In February 2010 Doge had yet to become a meme. This happened in December 2013, and spawned a seperate meme sub-culture called interior monologue capturing, which involves placing randomly dispersed text on top of an image to represent what the subject is thinking or feeling, typically using the Comic Sans font. (The use of Comic Sans is an ironic nod to the most vilified, puerile and childish of Microsoft fonts. Its revival denotes the playfulness and mischief making at the heart of meme culture).
Doge Coin, Wow
Very soon after, Doge (the meme) became Dogecoin (the cryptocurrency). As of writing its market cap is $6.9Bn. Not coincidentally Dogecoin gave birth to a litter of other satirical cryptocurrencies, from Ponzi Coin to Useless Ethereum Tokens (UETs). People bought them, some with their tongue more firmly in their cheek than others. Alas, a significantly more valuable vehicle for irony was born.
Pump It Up
Doge coin was then pumped up in the Reddit thread Satoshi Street Bets, a precursor to Wall Street Bets, which shot to fame during the recent GameStop saga. Shortly afterwards, a man who has for many become a prophet of antiestablishment tech libertarianismm sent Dogecoin into orbit with a three word tweet:
His Tesla CFO, techbro and newly minted Master of Coin was reported to have “been pleased” by this tweet. (Even if establishment journalists were less than impressed by this stunt).
Non-Fungible Elon
Musk’s crypto evangelism inspired the digital artist, Beeple to create a work of wonder that shows a magnificently muscular Musk straddling Doge whilst brandishing a cup with the insignia, “NFE” (Non-Fungible Elon):
This digital artwork became part of a 5000 work collection of digital compositions entitled “Everyday”, which were sold for $69m via a NFT last week. This makes it the third most valuable artwork in history, after Jeff Koon’s Rabbit and David Hockey’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures). What’s more, Christie’s (the auction house) no longer needs to provide scrappy old certificates of authenticity. A win for digitisation and dematerialisation. Although probably not for the total carbon footprint of art sales — mining NFTs does use a fair bit of power, I am told.
Sidenote
Just yesterday a digital home sold for $500k. The new owner of the 3D digital file will be able to explore the open-plan mansion’s rooms using virtual reality. Lucky thing. Way before this, and by this I mean 2017, Crypto Kitties sold purrfect NFT cat 🐈 cartoons for $100k +. But this is dwarfed by in-game purchases of digital assets like shields, swords and popular usernames which amount to billions per annum. Many people reading this will know someone who owns Fortnite Skins. Or have paid for them inadvertently via a stored credit card. (A non-fungible token of parental love).
Ja Rule re-selling FYRE
You know you are entering a bull market for irony when the rapper, Ja Rule, pitches up with a NFT platform selling FYRE festival collectibles / forgettables. Fyre Festival was, of course, the millennial poster child for “fake it till you make it” insta filter fantasy capitalism. And a massive fraud.
The starting bid, for the picture above, is $600,000. It could be a real steal for anyone seeking to own the embodiment of our Zeitgeist. The only way this story could be better is if Ludacris were putting it under the hammer.
Open Your Mind To The New
Many boomers dismissed meme culture, Tik Tok (now valued at $180Bn) and crypto speculation as the follies of youth, or worse, signs of cultural degeneration. Doge (real name Shiba) knew better. All. Along. Clever Doge.
Maybe #influencers, #creators and #cryptoinvestors will be proven right. And who knows, maybe even Ja Rule will be Livin’ It Up again soon. It is to him we must give the final word:
“If you’re old like me, you’re used to having tangible things to collect. But you’ve got to let your mind be open to the new”.
From memes to NFTs, everything can be created and everything can be distributed. If only we can open our minds, who knows what we can achieve.
