It probably was inevitable, but an image from Route 66 has entered the realm of non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs.
I received this news release last week from a fellow from Scotland who asked not to be identified but goes by the tagline Century of Progress.
The release from him has been shortened a bit and edited for clarity:
Paris Hilton, Mike Tyson and Captain Kirk, what do they have in common other than fame?
Well, they all love to buy and sell NFTs, Non Fungible Tokens!
Millions of people worldwide are creating art on the blockchain and trading in NFTs.
It’s an amazing way to buy and sell art, photography and music whilst proving that you own it, as you own the NFT on the blockchain like a digital certificate of authenticity.
And now Route 66 has blasted into the NFT crypto world with an incredible image by the artist ‘Century Of Progress’.
Century said, “I wanted something iconic to be my very first photographic NFT, and what better than Route 66 for iconic!”
With a ‘Crypto Punk’ NFT selling for $11.8 million at Sotheby’s recently, many people think NFTs are a wonderful investment for their future, whilst some buy just because they love art and Photography.
Century continued, “ I have been lucky enough to be a Pro Photographer since the day I left school. I wanted to bring my work and Route 66 into a new future. This is my very first photographic NFT and it is sure to be collectable, especially since it is a one of one, limited to just one NFT!”
The amazing image called “Get Your Kicks…” is available to purchase with Ethereum on the NFT website, Foundation.
“I photographed this timeless scene between Kingman & Oatman outside the Cool Springs Station on my Route 66 road trip. The movie ‘Universal Soldier’ was shot on the exact spot I stood to take this photograph. I’m very proud to have my first NFT for sale and for it to be Route 66!”
Century Of Progress proudly presents their first photograph ever minted on the blockchain, “Get Your Kicks…”Limited to only one NFT!
Sure enough, a search on the website showed a Route 66 license plate, but only one from Route 66 itself. At last check, it was going for the equivalent of about $1,600.
If you want to check out more of Century of Progress’ work, check out his Twitter account.
TheVerge.com had a helpful explanation about NFTs. In short:
“Non-fungible” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different. […]
NFTs can really be anything digital (such as drawings, music, your brain downloaded and turned into an AI), but a lot of the current excitement is around using the tech to sell digital art.
There’s more, at the link.
A prominent and successful artist who recently moved to Tucumcari has been an advocate for NFTs for other artists, so it probably shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
However, the old adage of “if you don’t understand it, don’t invest in it” should be applied here, as it should with all investments.
(Courtesy image of “Get Your Kicks …” from @CenturyofProgress)