'Morons:' Crypto Enthusiasts Burn Banksy's Real Artwork To Turn It Into Digital Token

A piece of art by the street artist Banksy has been burned by self-described art and cryptocurrency enthusiasts and will instead be sold as a non-fungible token.

What Happened: “Morons,” a 2006 artwork that takes a dig at art collectors was reportedly burned at a secret location, according to a YouTube video posted by the enthusiasts who call themselves Burnt Banksy. 

Burnt Banksy plan to sell the NFT at an auction on Open Sea on Thursday, a link for which would be provided on their Twitter profile. 

“We view this burning event as an expression of art itself. We are generating a new form of artwork via the creation of this unique NFT that is a direct representation of the physical,” said the enthusiasts.

The group said the reason they were burning the artwork was that “as long as the physical piece exists, the value of that piece will remain with the physical.”

“If we entirely re-create the physical piece and input specifications such as the art version number into the smart contract code, no one can ever alter the the digital art in any way. In this way the physical piece will forever be memorialized in this NFT,” wrote Burnt Banksy in the video description.

See also: What is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?

Why It Matters: Banksy himself was not reportedly involved in the burning of the piece. Coindesk reported that the winning bidder would receive an official proof of authenticity from Banksy’s authentication agency, Pest Control.

The group purchased the Morons for nearly $100,000, an anonymous source told CoinDesk.

On Tuesday, crypto veteran Charlie Lee sounded the alarm on the hype surrounding NFT. The Litecoin LTC/USD creator said NFT is not the artwork. 

The artist Grimes, partner of Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, sold digital artworks for nearly $6 million.

Others that have been associated with the NFT recently include Beeple, Lindsay Lohan, and electronic musician 3LAU.

Price Action: Bitcoin BTC/USD traded 1.05% higher at $49,519.90 at press time.