This
Valentines
Day,
buy
your
lover
a
rock.
That
may
just
be
the
marketing
angle
legendary
auction
house
Sotheby’s
is
hoping
to
play
up
for
tomorrow,
Feb.
14,
when
it
will
begin
a
sealed
auction
of
EtherRock
NFTs.
According
to
the
auction
page,
the
EtherRock
collection
is
a
“pivotal”
part
of
NFT
history.
There’s
certainly
a
case
to
be
made:
Launched
in
2017
shortly
after
CryptoPunks,
but
before
the
ERC-1155
and
ERC-721
token
standards
(which
today
support
most
Ethereum-based
NFTs)
were
around,
EtherRocks
have
remained
part
of
the
digital
art
conversation
since
they
became
popular
during
the
last
bull
market.
This
is
an
excerpt
from
The
Node
newsletter,
a
daily
roundup
of
the
most
pivotal
crypto
news
on
CoinDesk
and
beyond.
You
can
subscribe
to
get
the
full
newsletter
here.
This
may
be
a
little
surprising
given
exactly
what
EtherRocks
are:
Clipart
of
a
rock.
There
are
only
100
tokens
in
the
series,
each
tied
to
a
nearly-identical
cartoon
JPEG
image
—
the
only
variances
being
in
color
and
hue
from
gray
to
brown
(and
a
few
ultra
rare
in
blue).
The
series
is
divisive
among
NFT
collectors,
some
of
whom
love
the
absurdity
of
“Pet
Rocks
on
the
blockchain,”
as
project
founders
call
them,
and
others
who
see
the
concept
as
a
mockery.
To
me,
EtherRocks
represent
one
of
the
truest
expressions
of
NFT
art,
or
at
least
what
NFTs
have
become.
When
launched,
the
founders
didn’t
pretend
that
EtherRocks
were
anything
more
than
an
early
experiment
with
a
new
type
of
blockchain
feature.
The
fact
that
they
were
useless
was
sort
of
the
point:
“These
virtual
rocks
serve
NO
PURPOSE
beyond
being
able
to
be
brought
[sic]
and
sold,
and
giving
you
a
strong
sense
of
pride
in
being
an
owner
of
1
of
the
only
100
collectible
rocks
:),”
the
EtherRock
website
reads.
But
today,
the
conversation
around
EtherRocks
takes
on
a
different
tone.
Many
in
the
NFT
community
were
extremely
annoyed
that
Sotheby’s
decided
to
shine
the
spotlight
on
the
series,
under
the
company’s
new-ish
digital
art-focused
vertical,
Sotheby’s
Metaverse.
Part
of
the
debate
is
just
around
how
historic
the
historic
series
is
—
apparently
at
launch,
few
people
noticed
or
cared
about
EtherRocks,
unlike
CryptoPunks
or
CryptoKitties
which
immediately
found
an
audience.
“My
take
on
Sotheby’s
EtherRock
auction:
1.
EtherRocks
are
old
&
scarce.
Strong
narrative.
2.
Let
people
buy
&
sell
what
they
want
if
they
like
the
meme.
But:
3.
Don’t
push
false
narratives
like
“EtherRocks
shaped
NFTs.”
EtherRocks
are
a
2021
meme,
happened
to
mint
in
2017,”
ChainLeftist,
a
pseudonymous
crypto
artist
and
historian,
said
on
social
media.
It
was
a
point
echoed
by
artist
Rob
Ness:
“I
WAS
THERE
DURING
THAT
TIME..NOBODY
KNEW
OR
CARED
ABOUT
THEM
ROCKS
YO”
After
initially
saying
EtherRocks
“played
a
crucial
role
in
shaping
the
NFT
movement,”
Sotheby’s
actually
changed
the
language
on
its
site
in
response
to
the
criticism.
While
CryptoPunks
created
the
form
and
format
for
all
10,000
token
cartoon
series
to
follow
(from
Bored
Ape
Yacht
Club
to
Pudgy
Penguins),
it’s
hard
to
say
that
others
have
tried
to
emulate
EtherRocks’
model.
From
an
outsider’s
perspective,
it
seems
like
a
lot
of
this
controversy
is
simply
self-loathing
redirected
onto
a
project
that
exemplifies
the
worst
attributes
of
NFTs.
EtherRocks,
for
better
or
worse,
are
the
platonic
ideal
of
contemporary
NFTs.
Stripped
of
all
the
hype
around
community-building
and
the
future
of
art,
they
are
what
they
are
—
a
cartoon
image
downloaded
from
the
online
clipart
database
goodfreephotos.com,
sold
to
the
highest
bidder.
In
2021,
at
peak
NFT
madness,
someone
shelled
out
the
equivalent
of
$1.3
million
in
ether
(ETH)
for
the
reddish-brown
EtherRock
#42.
At
the
time,
the
“price
floor”
for
the
series
was
above
$1
million,
according
to
@etherrockprice
on
Twiter/X,
which
stopped
tracking
sales
data
in
2022,
after
things
fell
off.
And
now
that
the
attention
is
back
on
the
series
due
to
the
auction,
prices
are
seemingly
rising
again.
On
Feb.
12,
EtherRock
#46
sold
for
$496,658,
though
there’s
some
suspicion
it
wasn’t
a
legit
sale,
given
the
average
sale
price
beforehand
was
around
$500.
It’s
not
uncommon
for
inside-parties
to
collude
on
NFT
sales
to
bring
attention
to
a
project.
The
record-breaking
sale
of
digital
artist
Beeple’s
“100
Days”
mosaic,
which
put
NFTs
on
the
map,
was
made
to
a
business
partner,
for
instance.
Last
year,
a
group
of
art
investors
sued
Sotheby’s
for
allegedly
colluding
with
Yuga
Labs
to
inflate
the
price
of
Bored
Ape
NFTs.
I’m
not
alleging
the
same
game
is
being
played
here,
but,
if
it
were,
it’d
be
all
to
fitting.
See
also:
Why
NFT
Artists
Shouldn’t
Expect
‘Royalties’
|
Opinion
To
be
fair,
it
isn’t
just
raw
greed
that
drives
interest
and
investment
in
EtherRocks.
Like
the
Pet
Rocks
it
draws
inspiration
from,
there’s
something
refreshingly
self-aware
about
the
project.
Gary
Dahl,
the
advertising
pro
who
had
the
million-dollar
idea
to
sell
stones
to
Americans,
used
to
joke
that
pet
rocks
“required
little
to
no
care.”
The
novelty
toys
came
with
a
booklet
that
taught
buyers
how
to
get
your
rock
to
sit,
stay
and,
with
a
little
help,
roll
over.
You
can’t
do
much
more
than
that
with
EtherRocks,
either
—
other
than
speculate.
And
in
that
sense,
having
the
imprimatur
of
Sotheby’s
saying
“these
rocks
are
important”
is
a
huge
boon
to
collectors.
A
famed
art
collector
and
author
told
CoinDesk
in
an
email
the
series
is
“legendary.”
Why
exactly
did
the
curators
choose
the
project?
Because
of
its
vintage?
Its
artistic
statement
about
capitalism?
Because
they
have
a
sense
of
humor?