Queen Elizabeth II’s death is a historic moment, marking the end of a decades-long reign that oversaw the world go through incredible progress, tragedies and triumphs.
It’s also a time to hustle. Never missing an opportunity to capitalise on the world’s attention, people have begun flooding online marketplaces with non-fungible token (NFT) artworks of the long-serving monarch within minutes of the announcement of her death.
Thousands of NFTs have been listed on the popular marketplace OpenSea this morning, ranging from photographs of the queen to pixel-style art associated with popular NFT collections.
Announced less than an hour after the BBC reported the queen’s death, one collection titled RIP The Queen Official has generated 8000 digital artworks that have already begun selling. Each of the automatically generated NFTs has a unique combination of variables including different mouths, eyes, backgrounds and “traits” (including 492 that have been tastefully given “laser” eyes).
The end of the queen’s reign has also been a boon for existing NFT holders. One collection of similarly styled NFT artworks, QueenE DAO Collection, has seen a big lift in both sale price and the amount of demand for 73 artworks.
After not seeing much interest last month (with a single work sold 22 days ago for US$97.81), the NFTs are now flying off the virtual shelves. In the past five hours, eight pieces have sold. All but one sold for more than US$1000.
Those lucky enough to already own a queen-related NFT are using them to pay their respects. “Wearing my Queen Elizabeth dress and hat in her memory today,” one Twitter user tweeted along with a picture of a monkey with cheetah print dressed in the style of Elizabeth.
