NFT collection “EtherRocks” appears at Sotheby’s—Who will benefit most? | CoinDesk JAPAN

This Valentine's Day, buy your lover a stone. When auction house Sotheby's began selling its NFT collection EtherRocks on February 14th, that might have been its pitch. The company says EtherRocks is “pivotal” in the history of NFTs.

That's certainly true. EtherRocks, which launched in 2017 shortly after CryptoPunks' emergence, before ERC-1155 and ERC-721 token standards (which currently support most Ethereum-based NFTs) existed, was the first to emerge from the last bull market. It has remained a part of the digital art discussion ever since it became popular.

Pros and cons

Considering the reality of EtherRocks, it may be a bit surprising that it would come up for discussion. There are only 100 rock clipart pieces, and each NFT is tied to a nearly identical JPEG image. The only difference is the hue from gray to brown (there are also a few ultra-rare blues).

EtherRocks have been controversial among NFT collectors, with some loving their ridiculousness and calling them “pet rocks on the blockchain,” as the project's founder calls them. However, some people think the concept is a prank.

To me, EtherRocks is one of the truest expressions of NFT art, or at least what NFTs have become.

At launch, the founders didn't pretend EtherRocks was anything more than an early experiment in NFTs. The point was that it was of no use.

“These virtual rocks have no purpose beyond being able to be bought and sold, and to give you a sense of pride in being the proud owner of one of only 100 collectible stones,” the EtherRocks website states. It is written.

But now the conversation surrounding EtherRocks has taken on a different tone. Many in the NFT community are very upset about Sotheby's decision to spotlight the series under its new digital art-focused venture, Sotheby's Metaverse.

Historical significance?

Part of the debate is how historical this series is. Apparently, when it first launched, few people noticed or cared about EtherRocks, unlike CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties, which quickly found a following.

“My thoughts on Sotheby's EtherRocks auction. 1. EtherRocks are old and rare. They have a strong narrative. 2. If you like memes, let them buy and sell what they like. But 3. “Don't push the false narrative that 'EtherRocks shaped NFTs.' EtherRocks were minted in 2017, but they're a meme in 2021,” crypto artist and historian ChainLeftist posted on social media. .

Artist Rob Ness said the same thing.

“At that time, I was in the industry. No one knew about EtherRocks or cared.”

Sotheby's originally wrote that EtherRocks “played an important role in the formation of the NFT movement,” but changed the wording on its site after receiving criticism.

CryptoPunks has created a format that features 10,000 images on everything from Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) to Pudgy Penguins, but few NFT collections have imitated EtherRocks' model.

To an outsider, much of this discussion seems like a self-loathing focus on a project that represents the worst of NFTs.

For better or worse, EtherRocks is the ideal example of modern NFTs. If you strip away the hype about community-building and the future of art, it's actually an illustration downloaded from the online clip art database goodfreephotos.com and sold to the highest bidder.

In 2021, at the peak of the NFT craze, someone paid $1.3 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) for the reddish-brown EtherRock #42. According to Twitter (now X) user @etherrockprice, the lowest price for this series at the time was over $1 million. However, he stopped tracking sales data after NFT prices slumped in 2022.

Now, the auction has once again brought attention to EtherRocks, and the price appears to be rising again.

Alleged price gouging

On February 12th, EtherRock #46 was sold for $496,658, but there is some doubt as to whether it was a legitimate sale since the average selling price before that was around $500.

It is not uncommon for insiders to collude to draw attention to a project. For example, the record-setting sale of Beeple's “100 Days,'' the digital artist who made NFTs famous, was made to a business partner.

Last year, a group of art investors sued Sotheby's for allegedly colluding with Yuga Labs to inflate the price of Bored Ape NFTs.

I'm not claiming that the same thing is happening this time, but if that's the case, it all makes sense.

To be sure, greed isn't the only thing driving interest and investment in EtherRocks. Like the pet rocks that inspired it, there's a refreshing self-awareness to this project.

Advertising professional Gary Dahl, who came up with the $1 million idea to sell rocks to Americans, joked that pet rocks “need very little care.”

The novelty toy came with a booklet that told buyers how to make the stone sit, keep it quiet, and roll it with a little help.

There's little EtherRocks can do except deflect. In that sense, Sotheby's stamp of approval that “this stone is important'' is of great benefit to collectors.

One famous art collector and author said this NFT collection is “legendary.” Why did the curators choose this project? Is it because it's vintage? Because it makes an artistic statement about capitalism? Is it because I have a sense of humor?

｜Translation and editing: Akiko Yamaguchi, Takayuki Masuda
｜Image: EtherRocks
｜Original text: As EtherRocks Hit Sotheby's, Who Is Laughing Hardest?