The billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk is planning to sell a new electronic music track he posted online as a non-fungible token (NFT) as the blockchain-authenticated digital tokens gain traction.
Mr. Musk, who recently changed his Twitter bio to ‘Technoking of Tesla’, shared the 140-second song attached to a tweet “I’m selling this song about NFTs as an NFT. I love music. It makes my heart sing,” which has been viewed by more than 6.1 million people.
The Tesla CEO’s song is a techno track that refers repeatedly to the digital-only assets, saying “NFT for your vanity, computers never sleep, it’s verified, it’s guaranteed.”
The video displays the words “Vanity Trophy” orbiting around a golden orb affixed to the top of a trophy. It also displays ‘HODL’ (hold on for dear life) at the bottom that is commonly used by traders who invest in digital assets.
NFT is a unique digital token that can turn any item in the digital world from tweets to gifs and from artworks to videos into a tangible asset. Like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, they are sold and brought through the blockchain.
These assets are not interchangeable and their authenticity is verified by encrypting the creator’s signature on the blockchain. They are usually created by uploading files to online auction platforms such as Valuables.
“Owning any digital content can be a financial investment, hold sentimental value and create a relationship between collector and creator. The tweet itself will continue to live on Twitter, what you are purchasing is a digital certificate of the tweet, unique because it has been signed and verified by the creator,” said Valuables.
Mr. Musk did not include a link to the NFT in his tweet, so it is not clear when he is aiming to sell and on which platform, but he already has several potential buyers.
Tesla aims to invest a portion of its cash in alternative assets including digital assets, gold bullion and gold exchange-traded funds as it diversifies its holdings. Last month, it said in a filing that it will soon accept Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles and has invested $1.5 billion in the biggest cryptocurrency.
