Celebrities, billionaires and influencers join the NFT craze

Celebrities, billionaires and influencers join the NFT craze

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  • Celebrities from Lindsay Lohan to the NFL’s Rob Gronkowski jump in on the NFT craze.
  • More celebrities and influencers are expected to join the space as it increases in popularity.
  • Tesla CEO Elon Musk was planning to sell an NFT, but later decided against it.
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

As the craze for crypto-art continues, celebrities, billionaires and influencers start the trend and sell some of their own.

NFL player Rob Gronkowski, rapper Ja Rule, Lindsay Lohan and Mark Cuban jumped, among others. And Alex Atallah, co-founder of the NFT market OpenSea, told Insider he expects even more celebrities to join the space.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have allowed artists to sell their digital work for thousands and even millions of dollars. They are becoming popular because NFTs – which are mostly digital assets that function as a kind of collector’s item and cannot be duplicated – are now a market of more than $ 1 billion.

As for CEOs, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sold his very first tweet from 2006 for millions and donated the proceeds to charity. And just this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was a major promoter of cryptocurrencies, said he would sell a techno song as an NFT. But he later resigned, saying it did not feel right. His girlfriend, Grimes, has sold millions of cryptocurrencies.

Billionaire and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban sold an NFT of a motivational quote, which reads: “No one has ever changed the world by doing what everyone else does – Mark Cuban.”

Read more: Influencers chase money on NFTs with virtual avatars, digital collectibles and one-off art

As for the music industry, Shawn Mendes has teamed up with Genies, which makes 2D avatars, to make virtual versions of his guitar and gold ring and sell them as NFTs, reports Rolling Stone.

Hoping to get bad vibes from his Fyre Festival days, rapper Ja Rule auctioned off an oil paint that used to hang in the Fyre Media office as an NFT on a new Flipkick platform, and he offered to sign it for the buyer.

Flipkick Guys Party Painting

Flipkick sells this Fyre Festival painting as an NFT

Thanks to Flipkick


Other musicians also joined the trend. The Kings of Leon were the first band to sell an entirely new album, titled “When You See Yourself”, as an NFT, Rolling Stone Reported. And in a tweet, DJ Steve Aoki announced his first NFT collection ever.

In the sports world, Tampa Bay Buccaneer Rob Gronkowski, or the Gronk, announced on Twitter that he will be launching his own NFT collection. Four artworks commemorate his championship winners, and one is, according to him, a career highlight. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sold millions of dollars worth of NFTs within minutes, actionnetwork reports.

As for influencers, Paris Hilton sold a cat painting for $ 17,000, Decrypt reports. And Lyndsay Lohan sold her “Lightning” NFT for $ 50,000 and promised to donate the funds to charities that accept cryptocurrency, according to Decrypt.

With a lot of money to be made in NFTs, internet influencers are likely to continue to join the space. So far, YouTube stars like Logan Paul and Zach “ZHC” Hsiehn have already started experimenting with the trend.

Do you know of more celebrities and influencers who sell an NFT or plan to sell? Email the reporter of this story to [email protected].

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