Imprisoned Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Sells First NFT for $6.2 Million

The NFT sale was made via the SuperRare platform for a total of 1,446 ETH.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 10 December 2021 14:08 IST

Imprisoned Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Sells First NFT for $6.2 Million

Photo Credit: Twitter/ Super Rare

The first NFT sold from Ulbritcht’s collection is a pencil sketch called the “Perspective”

Highlights

This NFT is a complex pencil sketch of a human eye
Image of the NFT have been posted on Twitter
Proceeds are aimed at helping Ulbricht’s release efforts

Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has sold his first non-fungible token, a pencil sketch titled Perspective, for 1,446ETH, approximately $6.2 million or Rs. 47 crore. Ulbricht was convicted and jailed for his role in the Dark Web marketplace, and until a few months ago was not even aware of NFTs, but supporters who want him released banded together to create a decentralised group called FreeRossDAO, and purchased his first NFT.

The sale was made via SuperRare for a total of 1,446 Ether (ETH). Ulbricht says his artwork shows his story, from being a toddler to finding himself behind bars at the age of 29, and will use the money to finance his release efforts.

The physical sketch of the Perspective NFT was made by Ulbricht in the prison using a graphite pencil. Pictures of the original sketch have been posted on Twitter.

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After announcing the launch of his "Genesis Collection" NFT auction, Ross Ulbricht, the alleged founder of dark web marketplace Silk Road, has sold his first NFT for $6.2 million at auction. #NFTs #nftcollector #NFTs #NFTCommunity pic.twitter.com/rSjXLbYy50
— Thanos.eth (@nft_thanos) December 10, 2021

The name of Ulbricht's 10-piece NFT series is the Genesis Collection. Contributors to the auction will also be getting somethings in return.

“Once the bid to acquire the Genesis Collection succeeds, contributors will receive $ROSS tokens in return for their contributions pro-rata, serving as both fractional pieces of the Genesis Collection as well as FreeRossDAO's governance token. Holders of $ROSS can vote on proposals and contribute to the direction of FreeRossDAO,” the FreeRossDAO website says.

My NFT auction will start in 2 days! :smiley:https://t.co/jtOPsEH9ME
— Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) November 30, 2021

Other NFTs in this collection include writings and artworks from different phases of Ulbricht's life along with an animated video that was made by audio-visual artist Levitate with Ulbricht's voiceover about his time in prison.

NFTs are digital collectibles with their ownership transferrable and locked on the blockchain network.

The Art4Giving fund, a donor-advised trust was set up by the FreeRossDAO as a legal brand to fund new legal and court proceedings and raise a lot of awareness will be getting the funds of Ulbricht's NFT auctions.

Ulbricht had launched a Dark Web marketplace Silk Road in February 2011, which allowed the purchase of anything including banned substances via Bitcoin.

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Further reading: NFTs, Ether, Ross Ulbricht, non-fungible tokens, Silk Road

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More