THE blockchain entrepreneur who paid a record US$69.3mil (RM286mil) for a digital artwork looks, at first glance, nothing like a wealthy collector. And maybe my watch, ” the Indian-born programmer, also known by his pseudonym MetaKovan, told media from his sparsely decorated flat. His unpretentious demeanour offers no clue that he is a multimillionaire investor financing a fund focused on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which use blockchain technology to turn anything from art to internet memes into virtual collectors’ items. Last month, Sundaresan purchased the world’s most expensive NFT – American artist Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days”, highlighting how virtual work is establishing itself as a new creative genre. With NFTs, many see an opportunity to monetise digital art of all kinds, offering collectors bragging rights to ultimate ownership, even if the work can be endlessly copied.

Source: The Star April 14, 2021 00:33 UTC