This “Disaster Girl” Meme Was Sold for Half A Million Dollars

I’m a huge fan of memes. I usually spend my free time scrolling through Facebook or Reddit, looking for the best ones to share with friends or laugh about by myself. Memes are honestly one thing that helps me escape from reality sometimes- especially when things get rough. I often call my meme-time a “happy break”. What is NFT

Memes were created by unsung heroes who didn’t care if anyone will appreciate their efforts for plucking out funny photos and pairing them with some text to share happiness (or sarcasm). These go viral without having any idea who should be thanked for making it happen.

Now think about this, if shares and reactions would give monetary credit to the rightful meme owner then a globally viral meme would be worth… like…. A LOT.

Even if you’re not that fan of memes, you must have seen this somewhere:

Looks familiar, isn’t it?

Luckily for Zoe Roth, the child (now a full-grown adult at 21) in the photo, also known as the viral “disaster girl”, made close to half a million dollars by selling the original photo file online.

WHUT? HOW? IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?

I know. I was totally blown when I heard this news as well.

‘Disaster Girl’ Meme NFT Sells for Half a Million Dollars

Roth’s father took the photo in 2005, when Zoe was four years old. And that became a meme favorite for humorous (and somewhat sinister) takes on life after he uploaded it to the internet. More than a decade later, that particular photo circulates up to this day.

Fittingly for a meme that thrives on humor and chaos, she became its subject even before it had passed through the digital space — an avatar of disaster who managed to turn her misfortune into riches with creativity and wit.

Now, Zoe Roth is laughing all the way to her bank account. She just sold her original copy for 180 Ethereum, which equals nearly half a million dollars at the time she sold it! (See ETH’s price today)

In February 2021, Zoe was shocked to find an anonymous email that encouraged her to sell the meme as a non-fungible token or NFT.

I’ll tell you more about what an NFT is later, but for now, I’ll just summarize it with the following:

NFT is a new type of digital asset that makes use of the same technology as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Although the email sounded too good to be true, Zoe and her dad took the risk anyway after seeking advice from her fellow “meme” celebrities like Laina Morris of Overly Attached Girlfriend and Kyle Craven of “Bad Luck Brian.”

What is NFT and how does it work

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are a new form of digital assets that use the same technology as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It can be a photo, music, in-game items, gif, or even memes — just like Zoe’s.

They are not fungible, which means that each token is unique and can’t be substituted for another one. Think of it as a real-life painting. Of course, other people can recreate Mona Lisa. But there’s only one authentic painting of the Mona Lisa that no one can ever replicate. NFTs are like original paintings in the digital world.

This makes them ideal to represent digital items like photos, videos, or audio files where a single item may have little economic value but still has significant personal importance to its owner.

Perhaps you’ve been asking how in the world Zoe was able to sell her photo for half a million dollars when in fact, everyone on the internet can download it. The reason is somehow similar to the Mona Lisa painting I discussed above. Only Zoe and her father own the original file of the “disaster girl” meme.

Again, just like you, I’m totally blown away with this concept but I hope I was able to relay the idea as simply as I can. But just in case you find this tech concept fascinating, then read on, and let’s uncover these mind-blowing NFTs together.

How other people had their luck by selling their own NFTs

It seems that memes are priceless — literally. Who knew an effortless photo could be worth so much? It’s a bit ironic, considering the fact that it has no tangible value whatsoever and some people may think it would just be quicker to recreate them in Photoshop than pay hundreds of thousands for one photo.

But just like Zoe, there are other people who found their luck in the crypto space by converting their original content copies into NFTs.

Here are some of the most expensive NFTs that were sold so far:

1.  Compilation of artworks by Beeple ($69 Million)

2. Digital art collectible created by over 70 artists ($16 Million)

3. Grimes Artwork / Music Videos ($6 million)

4. Twitter’s founder first Twitter tweet ($2.9 Million)

5. Nyan Cat Meme ($509,000)

NFTs Explained: A Closer Look

If NFT is a “non-fungible” token, then what should be a “fungible” one?

Physical money and cryptocurrencies are perfect examples of “fungible” assets. This means that they are interchangeable. They have the same value. One dollar is always equal to another dollar just as how one Bitcoin is equal to another one Bitcoin.

If you’re not aware of it, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have a ledger called blockchain which lists all the transactions that are made in a certain crypto asset. This particular ledger tells everyone all the history of where it came from. For example, if I give you one Bitcoin and you gave it back to me, it tells the blockchain that this particular Bitcoin came from my address, then went to yours, then went back to me. It’s just the same Bitcoin we’re talking about.

When a transaction is made in a blockchain, the following data is transmitted.

• Transaction date and time
• The amount sent from the sender to the receiver
• The sender’s wallet address
• The receiver’s wallet address
  
  

But if I sent you one Bitcoin and you used it all up somewhere, by the time you acquired another Bitcoin elsewhere in order to pay me back, I could tell it’s not the same Bitcoin I sent to you by looking at its history.

Unlike fungible tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which can be exchanged for one another as long as they have the same value, non-fungible tokens are unique to each individual.

That means that two different NFTs can never take each other’s place in exchange. For example, if you own a rare piece of art represented by an NFT token called “art1,” then no other artwork can ever replace it. Simply, there’s nothing else that is comparable to the one you have, just like the original Mona Lisa painting or the original “disaster girl” file.

The Most Common NFT Use Cases

Well, I may have delivered NFT’s use case as a joke as I started introducing it with a meme, but in reality, these are some of the most common use cases of NFTs:

1. Arts

Digital artists can now protect their work from being copied and stolen. NFT is a good way to keep their work safe. They can also make money by giving others the opportunity to own a copy of their artwork by creating other NFTs that represent their artworks.

2. Collectibles

Mainstream sports teams started using NFTs. For example, the NBA started to use them instead of trading cards. This helps make their revenue grow and helps fans who live far from the team get more involved. You can also prove ownership and authenticity with NFTs, and they won’t break or get old like physical ones.



Ever heard how Lebron James’ top shot moment earned over $200,000?

3. Real Estate

In the real estate world, it takes a lot of people and time to close a sale. Usually, it takes weeks or even months. Each person has their own job that needs to be done. For example, you might need proof from another party before your sale is final. But now there’s a new way to do this! NFTs are new, faster ways to buy and sell homes as records can be easily shared between all people involved in the transaction.

4. Music

NFTs allow musicians to automatically earn money when someone plays their song. This way, artists may begin to earn a fair share of money for their work.

5. Gaming

Sometimes players have to unlock special items or do tasks in order to play the game. Some players buy and sell what they’ve unlocked for money so that they can do other things in the game.

Here are Top 5 of the most popular NFT games right now.

What’s the point of having NFTs when you can just download them yourself?

Of course, you can copy a digital file as many times as you want, but with one difference: if the work is an NFT then that person will not only be able to take ownership of it, they’ll also have rights to reproduction.

To put this into physical terms; anyone can buy a Monet print (though currently for much more), but there’s only ever been one original!

Why do people buy NFT?

This question is probably worth a million dollars. But the answer is quite simple (yet cleverly unfathomable). Individuals buy NFT as they want to own items that are valuable and rare. There’s no way for someone else to copy your token, so it feels good when you get one.

How to buy or trade an NFT?

NFTs are traded exclusively in exchanges like OpenSea, which handle buying and selling tokens for fiat currencies (US Dollars, British Pounds) or other crypto-tokens such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. So if someone wants to spend $100 USD trading rare dance costumes represented by a “costume,” NFT, they would have to exchange their currency for cryptocurrency before being able to purchase from this particular seller’s account — without also paying any fees associated with moving money across borders.

How to make an NFT?

Can you make an NFT of something you don’t own?

The idea of an NFT is (not) so simple and yet genius! You can make it from anything digital: songs, tweets, or a piece of artwork. But if you’re not the artist who created something but want to use it as part of your own work then simply go ahead with permission– just be sure that they’re aware of what their content might end up being used for by someone else.

Is NFT a good investment?

Just like any form of possession, you can resell your NFT in the future. But just like any kind of possession, its future price is not guaranteed. You can set a high price all you want but if there’s no one who’s willing to buy it, you’ll be forced to lower down its price until someone shows interest or just keep it in perpetuity. Forever.

Personally, I would consider NFTs a high-risk investment. Aside from crypto’s extreme price volatility which could also dictate how someone could afford to buy a certain NFT, this form of “investing” is relatively new and who knows if people are just getting into the hype or if it’s really a good investment.

On the other hand, there are some investors who see NFTs as being an integral part of the future economy. And while it’s a hefty and risky investment, there is money to be made in this new industry so you should just do your research before jumping into anything.

To be honest, I’m not that much of an expert when it comes to NFTs so please do your research before diving right in.

Conclusion

Understanding the concept of NFT is not that simple. There are a lot of factors to consider, so it’s more complicated than simply buying something because you think it looks cool or will be valuable (though there’s nothing wrong with doing that). When people invest in NFT and buy tokens, they want to find value in rare things. It can feel great when you buy a token and nobody else has one like it.

What about you? What are your thoughts about NFTs? Would you invest in it?