The Meme That Ended A Thousand Friendships Was Sold As NFT For RM217,000

By Ameera Rosli  •  05 Aug 2021 in News

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As a zoomer on the internet, I can safely say that memes are the fuel that keeps my engine running.

After scouring this Godforsaken online plane of existence for most of my life, I’ve come across plenty of wonderful memes that have helped shape my sense of humour today. Albeit sometimes obscure and nonsensical, these pictures are usually reposted so many times that it’s become a part of the internet vernacular.

One such meme that an avid internet user would definitely recognise is the “friendship ended” meme.

The low-res image of two friends holding hands superimposed with rainbow text that reads, “Friendship ended with Mudasir. Now Salman is my best friend” accompanied by Mudasir’s crossed-out images at the bottom as if it’s an election ballot is so ludicrous and middle-school that you can’t help but chortle when you see it.

Well, in today’s new era of technology, this low-res but high-quality meme is being sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) for a whopping RM217,000.

The funniest thing is, the original uploader, Asif Raza, has since rekindled his friendship with Mudasir and now, he has two best friends. Cue the “aww”!

The proceeds will go to Asif and his two best friends, with a minor share going to Alter, who conducted the sale at digital art marketplace Foundation, the world’s largest platform for NFT listings.

This isn’t the first meme that has made its creators some serious bank though.

Memes such as Disaster Girl (girl smiling in-front of a house fire), Overly Attached Girlfriend (not to be confused with me) and Bad Luck Brian have been auctioned off as NFTs too.

While NFTs (minted on the Ethereum blockchain) bring forth a controversial discussion when it comes to its environmental impact since one analysis found that the energy footprint of an average transaction is roughly 35 kWh which is akin to powering a refrigerator for a month, and the network’s yearly power consumption is comparable to countries like Qatar and Hungary; it’s interesting to see how embarrassing photos from the past can now have such insurmountable value.

Maybe if I take a stroll down my Facebook photos timeline, I could find one worth more than the bullying I got for posting it.