A picture of a rock, existing as an NFT on Ethereum, has been sold for 139 ETH, Etherscan data on February 16 shows.
EtherRock NFT Sold For $235,000
At the time of buying, the 139 ETH used to purchase the NFT translated to around $235,000. For this transaction, the buyer paid 0.003672481899086462 ETH, or approximately $6, at the time.
Described as “EtherRock,” the NFT is among the earliest in Ethereum and across the NFT ecosystem. Only 100 of these NFTs were minted, and they have been changing hands since then.
Most importantly, the creator says they were created around the same time the CryptoPunks were minted on Ethereum. There are 10,000 CryptoPunks in circulation. Over the years, CryptoPunks have remained some of the most expensive and coveted NFTs in Ethereum and across the ecosystem.
The issuer of EtherRock claims that with every new virgin rock being minted, the price of each rock will only become more expensive. As things stand, no “virgin” rocks will be minted since the last 100 NFTs were all issued. Interested collectors can instead choose to buy “non-virgin” rocks. All EtherRock NFTs are trustlessly managed via an audited smart contract and are deployed exclusively on the Ethereum blockchain.
NFT Without Any Utility
It is not immediately clear who the buyer of the NFT is. What’s evident is that EtherRock NFTs don’t have a specific use case. They are created to exist as “pets on the blockchain.” What holders can do, however, is to trade the token. The original owner will profit if a buyer is willing to acquire the NFT at a higher price.
Presently, there are several EtherRock NFTs that can be purchased. Even so, it cannot be immediately determined which NFTs available were acquired from the less than 30 available for purchasing, per EtherRock list.
There are only two owners of EtherRock on OpenSea. These NFTs have a 0.4 ETH in trading volumes and a floor price of 0.1 ETH.
Meanwhile, on the official EtherRock site, the owner of the first EtherRock is selling the NFT for 10,000 ETH. Many of these NFTs are also not available for sale. Even the cheapest EtherRock available is listed for 235 ETH.
The purchase of the EtherRock comes at a time when the broader DeFi, crypto, and NFT markets are recovering after last year’s winter saw trading volumes drop by over 90%.