It took less than a day for an NFT to appear of the Will Smith slap against Chris Rock at this year's 94th Academy Awards ceremony. The Will Smith Slap DOA is on NFT marketplace OpenSea and has 721 owners, earning $45k in one day, and it feels like a new low point for meme NFTs.
You'll be looking at this media moment and wondering what is an NFT? The rise of non-fungible tokens, the ability to register digital and real life items on a blockchain to record scarcity, has risen in popularity in recent years. We have guides to NFT trends, NFT marketplaces and NFT gaming to help you navigate this new phenomenon.
While they are proving popular and enabling artists to take ownership and be creative, NFTs can be contentious too. Some people question their value and ecological impact. Is an NFT that celebrates an act of violence really something to treasure? We're not convinced.
Will Smith Slap NFT
The Will Smith Slap NFT didn't take long to take off (Image credit: Will Smith Slap DAO)
Perhaps the NFT community isn't behind this new hype NFT either. While the Will Smith Slap DAO (this stands for decentralised autonomous organisation) has sold 721 NFTs it created 1,999 in total. These initially sold for 0.003 ETH or $10 / £7, so the Will Smith Slap NFTs aren't expensive and they're not selling in big numbers either.
This NFT collection takes the minute-and-a-half sequence – the moment actor Will Smith slaps comedian Chris Rock and their reactions – and chops it into selected screen grabs with meme-friendly but dumb messages layered on top. "Bad Boys 4: The Slap," anyone?
The Will Smith Slap DAO is kinda trashy, and falls into the NFT meme arena popularised by the likes of Nyan Cat, an animated pop tart rainbow cat that sold for $590,000. While that classic NFT meme sold for a big figure, we'd suggest not buying into hype event-driven collections like the Will Smith Slap DOA, if anything, it's just tasteless.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific financial or investment advice or recommendations for any individual for any investment product. The article is only intended to provide general information and opinions about NFTs. The views reflected in this article are subject to change at any time without notice.
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Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.
