Non-fungible (NFT) artwork featuring Justin Roiland’s iconic characters recently collected a hefty bid at the Nifty Gateway NFT marketplace.
The digital artwork titled ‘The First Ever Edition Of Rick And Morty Crypto Art’ sold for $150,000. The transaction was held via a silent auction on the popular NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway.
The piece by Rick and Morty co-creator, Justin Roiland, features a doodle of the TV show’s main characters, Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith. It forms part of a collection called “The Best I Could Do.”
The collection also includes images of other iconic American animations, including The Simpsons, humorously referred to here as “The Smintons.”
The Smintons sold for $290,100 on Wednesday, pipping the previous bidder by $50 just before the auction closed.
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a type of cryptographic token that is unique by nature and cannot be divided into smaller parts like other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).
Nifty Gateway’s NFT marketplace allows for the trading of such tokens. The company also teams up with some top brands and artists worldwide to offer exclusive NFTs on its marketplace.
The Crypto-Art Renaissance
NFT-based art surged in popularity towards the end of last year as marketplaces such as Nifty Gateway provide unique digital art sales. This popularity has subsequently attracted rather large bids.
The craze is reminiscent of the CryptoKitties mania seen in 2017. The feline-themed NFT collectibles are available on the Ethereum network. The traffic CryptoKitties initially generated briefly overloaded the network.
The resurgence in NFTs may indicate a shift away from casual meme art, towards more ‘serious’ creations in the crypto-art world.
An NFT Future on Ethereum?
This crypto-art renaissance is likely to prompt fresh concerns about the capability of the Ethereum network to handle the increased throughput.
Ethereum fees and gas prices are already at record highs as cryptocurrency’s second-largest token trades close to its all-time high. For now, however, all seems well, and the industry will likely continue to grow.