The conversations surrounding NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, may still be relatively new and ongoing, but that isn't stopping some people from cashing in on how trendy these digital tokens are right now. Case in point: Film director Alex Ramírez-Mallis has decided to make additional money with his farts.
Ramírez-Mallis sat down with the New York Post on Thursday to share, without a hint of hesitation, that he has sold an audio recording of his flatulence for the NFT currency of 0.05 Ethereum, which equals roughly $85, to an anonymous buyer. He and a group of friends are also auctioning off the digital rights to one year's worth of their fart sounds, called the "One Calendar Year of Recorded Farts." Why? Because they can.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"If people are selling digital art and GIFs, why not sell farts?" Ramírez-Mallis told the Post. He went on to describe the NFT boom happening right now as "absurd — this idea of putting a value on something inherently intangible." He continued, "These NFTs aren't even farts, they're just digital alphanumeric strings that represent ownership."
Despite equating the NFT moment the world is having right now to "technological novelty that masquerades as revolutionary," Ramírez-Mallis remained upfront about cashing in on the craze. The idea to record farts with his friends began in March 2020 as a unique way of keeping in touch with each other over WhatsApp, just as stay-at-home orders began in New York. The group eventually compiled all of their fart sounds together into a 52-minute recording to sell. It clearly worked in their favor, since the recording currently has a top bid of $183.
"If the value increases, they could have an extremely valuable fart on their hands," Ramírez-Mallis told the Post.
The speed at which NFTs are taking hold in the mainstream right now is being seen across popular culture, from music to the art world, and it's either here to stay or another passing fad (is anyone still regularly checking the Robinhood app or talking about GameStop?). But based on the recent $69 million sale of the artist Beeple's digital files to auction company Christie's and the continuous million-dollar-plus sales of concept art around Hollywood, the former is looking more and more likely.
At least we have more to choose from than just hour-long fart recordings.