Rare Hashmasks Digital Artwork Sells for $650K in Ether

A demonic digital artwork on the Ethereum blockchain has been sold for a small fortune via peer-to-peer marketplace OpenSea.

Selling for 420 ETH (roughly $650,000 at the time of purchase on Wednesday), the collectible non-fungible token (NFT)-based artwork is known as a Hashmask.

The buyer, @seedphrase on Twitter, posted:

The Hashmask platform, from Switzerland-based Suum Cuique Labs, hosts a collection of 16,384 unique digital portraits created by a collective of over 70 artists, according to the its website.

“The mask itself is a unique, one-of-a-kind design, and the mystical attributes – character, eye color and skin color – are present in only 0.07% of all Hashmasks,” the artwork’s buyer, Danny – who preferred to not to provide a surname – told CoinDesk via email.

“I’m particularly interested in purchasing ultra-high-end NFTs that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye and scarce,” he said. 

Danny also said he was “immediately” attracted to Hashmask due to the “Basquiat style” – a reference to noted Manhattan-based artist Jean-Michel Basquiat – and its several layers of “subjective scarcity.”

“I also liked that there’s a transparent copyright policy that gives the owner freedom over their non-fungible tokens, whereas most NFT projects have a license that restricts the buyer from commercializing their NFT,” Danny said.

While the NFT community has been evolving, Danny said it hadn’t yet seen a major influx from the public.

“Knowing that I’m an early investor while also providing liquidity to artists and projects is incredibly rewarding,” he said.