'Disaster Girl' Meme Sold As NFT For $500,000

Zoë Roth, the face behind the popular “Disaster Girl” meme from 2005, has capitalized on the NFT trend by selling the tokenized original copy of the meme for nearly $500,000.

What Happened: According to a report from the New York Times, Roth’s NFT sold at an auction on April 17 for 180 Ether which amounts to a little over $500,000 at the time of writing.

The buyer was a Dubai-based music studio, 3F Music, which has acquired several high-value meme-NFTs of late, including “Overly Attached Girlfriend” for $411,000.

“Our management team is always in cooperation with some highly knowledgeable and experienced art advisers who believe that we must grow with technological movements that help us to not only promote our business but also to support artists and the art market,” said 3F Music in a statement to the New York Times.

Why It Matters: Roth said that she would use the proceeds from the sale to pay off her student loans and donate to several charities over the next few years. So far, Roth has not converted any of the Ether denominated proceeds into U.S dollars from its cryptocurrency form.

“People who are in memes and go viral is one thing, but just the way the internet has held on to my picture and kept it viral, kept it relevant, is so crazy to me,” she said. “I’m super grateful for the entire experience.”

Before making the decision to sell, Roth said she conferred with another popular meme personality Kyle Craven, otherwise known as  “Bad Luck Brian”.

“It’s the only thing that memes can do to take control,” said Craven to Roth, advising her to make the most out of tokenization and meme culture.

See also: Kurt Cobain's Last Photoshoot Will Be Sold As NFT

According to Ben Lashes, a ‘meme manager’ who handled the sale of “Disaster Girl”, NFT sales have established memes as a sophisticated art form and serious pieces of culture.