The latest buzz in the world of cryptocurrency is that a non-fungible token (NFT) digital painting of a pet rock has reportedly sold for an unreasonably high price. The NFT was sold for 33 ETH, which roughly translates to around $100,000. This rock is a part of one of the first NFT collectible projects, which was started in 2017 on the Ethereum blockchain. It is important to note that this pet rock was a limited one and only 100 such rocks were created.
These pet ether rocks are digital paintings of large stones, which are identical in size and shape. However, each of the NFT rocks has a different color. According to the Ether Rock website, virtual pet rocks have no other function besides selling and buying. The limited availability of the rocks also adds to its appeal. These rocks were released soon after the launch of CryptoPunks in December 2017 through a smart contract and deployed on the Ethereum blockchain.
The first rock was sold in December 2017 itself for ETH 0.0999, which approximately translates to $289. However, in the following three years, only 20 Ether Rocks were sold. The year 2021 saw the purchase of ten more rocks. Every time a rock was minted, its price was pushed up. According to online sources, the price of Ether in India stands at Rs. 2,35,000, as on 10 August. While scarcity has been the prime contributing factor in pushing up its price, the bubbling NFT market has also aided in its increasing popularity.
