Featured Image Credit: Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali
Topics: Technology, World News, Weird, Twitter
Dominic Smithers
Topics: Technology, World News, Weird, Twitter
A student has reportedly made an absolute fortune from turning hundreds of selfies into NFTs.
Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali, from Indonesia, took a snap of himself almost every day for five years.
Each of the photos is virtually the same: him staring into the camera with a pretty expressionless look on his face.
The idea behind the project was to create a time-lapse video, which he was apparently going to use at his graduation.
However, the 22-year-old has managed to turn it into a money-making scheme, with people lining up to fork out thousands for them.
For those of you who don't know what the hell an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is, it's 'a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible'.
The computer science student had originally priced his pics at just 0.00001 ETH ($3), however, the price quickly caught fire and they are now selling for more than $12,000.
Tweeting about its earlier this month (10 January), the student said: "Uploading my photo into NFT lol."
Adding the following day: "Can’t believe people actually bought my photo NFT, 35 already sold in one day."
On that day alone, over 200 of his selfies were reportedly sold.
According to reports, interest in the photos, which went on sale back in December, grew after a celebrity chef picked up a few for himself.
Speaking about the venture, Ghozali told the media that it was just a bit of a laugh.
He told AFP: "I was thinking it might be funny if one of the collectors collected my face.
"I never thought anybody would want to buy the selfies, which is why I only priced them at $3."
If you look on OpenSea, an online marketplace for NFTs, the young man's photos are being sold for 4ETH, which equates to around $12,508.
And according to reports, the entire collection, which is titled Ghozali Everyday, is worth a staggering 374 ETH ($1.2 million).
Which isn't too bad, is it?
He now plans on using his newfound wealth to invest in setting up his own animation studio.
Though he admits that even his parents aren't aware of how much money he's been making from it.
“To be honest I still haven’t got the courage to tell my parents, they would be wondering where I got the money from,” he said.