Nyan Cat NFT sold for 300 ETH; Christie's to auction Beeple's 'Everydays'

Chris Torres' Nyan Cat, a 2011 animated GIF, was sold as an NFT for 300 Ethereum (about $590,000). The sale highlights the growing crypto art market, which uses blockchain technology to assign ownership to digital works. NFTs come in two standards: LRC721 (unique tokens, used by Cryptopunks and Cryptokitties) and LRC1155 (multiple tokens per contract, used for fractional ownership, as with Andy Warhol's '14 Small Electric Chairs' auctioned by Maecenas and Dadiani Syndicate in 2018). Christie's will hold its first auction of a purely digital work from February 25 to March 11, 2021: Beeple's 'Everydays – The First 5000 Days', a collage of 5,048 daily images, starting at $100. Beeple's previous auction fetched $3.5 million for selected works. However, crypto art's environmental impact is significant: Ethereum transactions consume electricity equivalent to an EU resident's usage for 4 days per transaction. Artist Joanie Lemercier reported that a single edition of his work emitted 80 kg of CO2, with resales adding to the footprint. Memo Atken's research found that 67% of artists on SuperRare have NFTs with over 1 tonne of CO2 footprint, and 18% exceed 10 tonnes (equivalent to 12 transatlantic flights). Platforms and artists often ignore these emissions, raising urgent calls for awareness and action.