Damien Hirst launches 10,000 NFT artworks as 'The Currency'

Damien Hirst has launched 'The Currency', a project of 10,000 unique dot paintings that can be bought as NFTs or physical artworks. Released on July 14, 2021, each piece costs $2,000 and is sold via Heni, the art group founded by Joe Hage. Buyers initially purchase a digital version, receive an NFT by end of July, and can trade on Hirst's site or Niftys. After two months, owners must choose between keeping the NFT or redeeming the physical work; the other version is destroyed. Unclaimed works will be exhibited and then destroyed after one year. Hirst conceived the project in 2016, initially as a physical series, but pivoted after discovering NFTs. The work aims to create a freely traded art currency with transparent value, bypassing auction house costs. A 5% royalty applies to secondary sales. Hage stated, 'It is often said that money corrupts art, but this is an attempt by art to corrupt money.' Hirst previously experimented with the market in his 2008 Sotheby's auction coinciding with Lehman Brothers' collapse.