Eugene software engineer Miguel Cervera has been a student of blockchain technology for years. “Many of the use cases for NFTs have not been discovered yet,” he says of the technology, which was developed in 2008. “There are a lot of ways we can benefit from it.”
So when
Eugene Weekly jumped on the blockchain bandwagon this spring and auctioned a unique digital image of its April 8 cover as an NFT, it naturally drew Cervera’s attention. The initial bid, from another local software engineer, was $50; Cervera bid it up in $100 increments until it reached $1,000 and won the
EW cover image when the auction closed April 23.
Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, one-of-a-kind digital collectibles selling for surprising sums, now arrive in Austin. One featuring the art and music of late songwriter Daniel Johnston comes up for sale on Friday. Another NTF, a visual representation of local music venue the Mohawk, auctions tonight. the Daniel Johnston is Alive Somewhere NFT
The Johnston NFT features six colorful frogs that blink as a keyboard instrumental from the 1985 track “Fly Eye” plays. The late outsider artist’s famed phrase “Hi, how are you” sits at the top and one frog speech bubble reads “Fine thank you.” The words “Daniel Johnston is alive somewhere” run at the bottom. According to Daniel’s brother, Dick Johnston, the image comes from a drawing the family found shortly after the singer and visual artist’s passing in 2019.