If you’ve been wondering about the recent hubbub around NFT memes, you’re in luck.
Today, we’re going to dive into NFTs, NFT memes and break down the economics of the recent NFT meme craze, including the lucrative sales of certain NFT memes like “Disaster Girl” and “Doge.”
What are NFTs?
First off, you need to understand what exactly an NFT is (if that’s old news for you, just skip on ahead).
NFT stands for “non-fungible token.” Non-fungible is simply a fancy way of saying unique—a fungible good, on the other hand, is identical to other items like it such that it’s interchangeable for all intents and purposes. A simple example of a fungible good would be the common shares of a company’s stock.
What this means is that NFTs are not interchangeable. They’re built using smart contracts on platforms like Ethereum (which has probably the most name recognition at this point).
People can then bid on and buy NFTs, usually using a cryptocurrency such as Ether. Side note: if you are interested in getting involved, you will need a crypto wallet that we talk about here.
So, what are NFT memes?
NFT memes are simply memes sold as NFTs. They are similar to other common NFTs now sold, such as sports cards and other collectibles.
Since the beginning of 2021, there has been a huge increase in the NFT market, which has now included many NFT memes. Among the recent memes sold as NFTs are “Disaster Girl,” “Bad Luck Brian,” “Doge,” “Charlie Bit My Finger,” “Overly Attached Girlfriend,” “Scumbag Steve,” “Success Kid,” “Leave Britney Alone,” and “Nyan Cat.”
How much money are we talking about?
So, exactly how much money is being thrown at these NFT memes?
The short answer? A lot.
Here’s a breakdown of the aforementioned NFT memes and what they sold for:
- Disaster Girl – This classic meme, featuring four-year-old Zoe Roth staring at the camera in front of a burning home, sold for 180 ETH (Ether, Ethereum’s token), which equated to over $500,000 at the time of the sale in April 2021.
- Bad Luck Brian – This meme, which first popped up in 2012, features a hilariously awkward photo of a kid (real name Kyle) taken from a school yearbook and sold for 20 ETH, or around $36,000 at the time of the auction on March 9th.
- Doge – Now a household name, Doge or Dogecoin is a joke cryptocurrency that has gone “to the moon,” in the lingo of the Reddit WallStreetBets crowd. Featuring the funny image of a Shiba Inu dog, the Doge meme that inspired the cryptocurrency sold for an astonishing $4 million (in ETH) in June 2021, proving that the NFT market is still piping hot.
- Charlie Bit My Finger – One of the earliest mega-viral YouTube videos, the “Charlie Bit My Finger” clip, which shows two little boys sitting together, with one biting the other’s finger, recently sold as an NFT in May. For how much? A cool $760,999, though bidding started at only $1,000. The video, which had nearly 900 million views on YouTube, left the platform following the NFT sale.
- Overly Attached Girlfriend – This unsettling meme, featuring a young woman with wide eyes and a disconcerting smile, sold for around $411,000 back in April. Like many of these NFTs, the winning bidder was 3F Music. The original YouTube clip that produced the meme has more than 20 million views.
- Scumbag Steve – Featuring a very normal-looking young dude with a hilariously askew backwards hat and fur trim on his jacket, the “Scumbag Steve” NFT sold for roughly 30 ETH, worth around $57,000 at the time of the auction. Like many of these NFTs, it was sold on the NFT marketplace known as Foundation.
- Success Kid – The little kid pumping his fist with a determined grimace is the meme known as “Success Kid.” We’d say he’s quite the success, as the picture from 2007 that became a meme sold for 15 ETH, or around $32,000 at the time of the sale.
- Leave Britney Alone – Chris Crocker became famous (or infamous) online with the “Leave Britney Alone” YouTube video. It sold in April for more than 18 ETH, or around $41,000 at the time.
- Nyan Cat – A famous internet GIF, the “Nyan Cat” meme sold for nearly $600,000 in February 2021, or 300 ETH at the time. The clip comes from a YouTube video that now has more than 189 million views.
It’s no surprise, given the red-hot NFT market this year, that a ton of celebrities have cashed in, including rappers, fashion designers, and even Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who sold his first tweet as an NFT back in March—it said “just setting up my twttr”—for nearly $3 million.
All in all, there has been more than $2.5 billion in NFT sales through the first six months of 2021.
NFT memes are going to the moon
The “Memeconomy” is real, and it’s making people some serious cash. You’re going to want to keep your eyes on this market as it would appear that NFT memes will keep raking in plenty of dough.
Needs some help getting involved? This little “How To” article should get you up and running NFT Crypto Art Collector Starter Guide | Why It’s So Easy. If you have your own meme or piece of digital art and want to turn it into an NFT then this is where you need to go How Much Does It Cost to Create an NFT? A Simple Answer.
But perhaps you want to make some NFTs of your own but the artistic kind? If that’s the case, check this article out, “Top 7 Skills You Need to be an NFT Digital Artist.”
Hopefully, this article opened your eyes! We wish you luck on your NFT meme adventure.