Is the NFT known as the ‘Will Smith Slap’ a new low for crypto?

An NFT of Will Smith’s slap against Chris Rock at this year’s 94th Academy Awards ceremony surfaced in less than a day. The Will Smith Slap DOA has 721 owners on NFT marketplace OpenSea, earning $45k in a single day, and it appears to be a new low point for joke NFTs.

You’ll be asking yourself, “What is an NFT?” as you watch the news. The capacity to register digital and physical goods on a blockchain to record scarcity, known as non-fungible tokens, has grown in popularity in recent years. To assist you in navigating this new phenomenon, we have guides to NFT trends, NFT marketplaces, and NFT gaming.

NFTs, while popular and allowing artists to take control and be creative, can also be divisive. Some people are sceptical of their worth and environmental impact. Is an NFT that honours a violent event really something to be proud of? We aren’t persuaded.

Perhaps neither the NFT community nor the NFT community is driving this new hype NFT. While the Will Smith Slap DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation) has sold 721 NFTs, it has created a total of 1,999. The Will Smith Slap NFTs were initially sold for 0.003 ETH, or $10 / £7, so they aren’t pricey, and they aren’t selling in large quantities.

The minute-and-a-half sequence – the moment actor Will Smith punches comedian Chris Rock and their responses – is chopped up into selected screen captures with meme-friendly but idiotic words put on top in this NFT collection. Anyone for “Bad Boys 4: The Slap”?

The Will Smith Slap DAO is a bit trashy, and it fits within the NFT meme category popularised by Nyan Cat, a $590,000 animated pop tart rainbow cat. While the famous NFT meme went for a pretty penny, we wouldn’t recommend falling for hype event-driven collections like the Will Smith Slap DOA; it’s just tasteless.