Justin Sun, the mysterious founder of blockchain network TRON, came within a whisker of buying the world’s most expensive NFT, Beeple’s The First 5,000 Days. Perhaps still stinging from that close call, Sun made no mistake when he won an auction for NFT Glee’s Golden Whale Pass on Friday. The NFT grants Sun lifetime whale access to all future Bitcoin Conference events, as well as a slew of VIP perks at the 2021 Conference in Miami this weekend.
Justin Sun Wins NFT Auction
Justin Sun, the founder of TRON and the CEO of BitTorrent, won the auction for the first-ever Golden Whale Pass, an NFT (non-fungible token) based on the Liquid Bitcoin sidechain and issued by NFTglee. Sun paid 12.6 BTC for the Whale Pass, making it the most expensive Bitcoin-adjacent NFT ever sold.
Sun said the purchase represents a major milestone for Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin is one of the best ways of storing value,” Sun said, “but lots of people don’t know you can actually develop NFTs on the Bitcoin network.”
“It is exciting to see large-scale NFT use cases such as the Golden Whale Pass, and I am excited to be a part of this legacy. Congratulations to the Bitcoin Conference team and the NFT Glee team – I plan on donating this NFT to the APENFT project and look forward to using my pass well into the future.”
However, the purchase was not just a symbolic show of support for Bitcoin NFTs. Sun noted the real-life benefits attached to the Golden Whale Pass NFT. As the purchase includes a lifetime pass to attend all future Bitcoin conferences, Sun expressed his excitement about attending the event, which he called “the most influential and important gathering in the crypto community.”
“That’s why I feel this Golden Whale Pass is extremely precious to me,” Sun said, “Bitcoin is all about the community. We always need to find the time to sit down together to talk about the future of Bitcoin. I believe we need to get together every year to build and innovate Bitcoin and blockchain technology to bring our technology to mass adoption.”
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2021 Is The Year Of NFTs
While the year 2020 was the year of DeFi, the year 2021 was the year of NFTs. The NFT industry is blooming with fresh innovative concepts and investment thanks to the interest of respected thought leaders, sportsmen, influencers, and celebrities. Justin has been a long-time supporter of NFTs and has utilized his platform to help educate and develop the NFT ecosystem and its applications. Justin feels that NFTs may serve as a bridge between the traditional and digital art worlds, as well as a terrific venue for digital artists to shine.
Justin recently donated his entire collection of art to the APENFT project, including Beeple’s “OCEAN FRONT,” Picasso’s “Femme nue couchée au collier,” Andy Warhol’s “Three self portraits,” and most recently, a full collection of works by the renowned artist Pak, after being impressed by the team and their vision to be the ARK Funds in the NFT space. The APENFT team successfully launched their first native token $NFT on Huobi Prime, as well as Poloniex LaunchBase 2 and Huobi Prime.
The BitTorrent CEO and TRON founder is optimistic about NFTs, believing that the decentralized network he runs is best suited to delivering digital artwork and collectibles at scale. Sun isn’t hesitant to put his money where his mouth is by claiming a big stake in the NFT economy, as his latest acquisition demonstrates.
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Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from Tradingview.com