Thanks to a fractional strategy, Feisty Doge, which is the NFT containing Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu (DOGE) photo, has become the most expensive NFT in the cryptosphere with a valuation exceeding $100 million. How did it get there?
The miracle of the split: $110 million
An August 23 article from Forbes explains the reason why the Feisty Doge owned by CryptoPathic aka Path, has become one of the most expensive NFTs in the cryptosphere on a very timely basis, with an estimated valuation of $110 million. The complete (and not yet split) NFT had, however, sold at auction for $43,279 as of June 2021.
In reality, Path artificially increased the value of the NFT by depositing it in Fractional.art. This allows the NFT to be split and tokenized to represent its partial ownership, just like shares for a company. This concept has been used in other forms in the traditional art world over the last few decades, through trusts.
To achieve fractionalization, an NFT holder of significant value can deposit it in a smart contract and issue NFDs which are ERC-20 tokens called NFDs comparable to shares. Fractionation democratizes access to the most expensive NFTs, as even small portfolios can buy a share of the NFT, by acquiring a few NFDs from its fractionation.
Dogecoin’s NFT set for a new record soon
So Feisty Doge’s value briefly hit $110 million based on the estimated 100 billion total NFT supply and the token’s (highly fluctuating) price. The current NFT exchange price in total hovers around $60 million, approaching the record $69 million price of Beeple’s NFT.
Crazy speculators who played the game used decentralized exchanges, such as Uniswap or SushiSwap, to buy and sell Feisty Doge’s NFTs against ethers (ETH), bitcoin (BTC), wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) as well as other cryptocurrencies.
Fractionation would therefore be a way to democratize the most original and expensive NFTs. While this example for the lulz will make people smile, the issue of split NFTs could well ignite the cryptosphere in the future. Who will be the next to follow its lead? Perhaps the owner of that old NFT rock purchased for $600,000?