TIME Magazine is embracing the blockchain digital art movement by auctioning three non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, inspired by some of its most iconic covers throughout the decades.
The American news magazine announced Monday that the three NFTs will be sold both individually and as a collection on SuperRare, a digital-art trading platform, through March 24. The collection is based on the theme, “Is ___ Dead?” which refers to a series of provocative typological covers inspired by the original April 8, 1966 rendition, “Is God Dead?” As TIME notes, this was the first cover in the magazine’s history to include only typography with no image.
The NFT rendition of “Is God Dead?” is now available on SuperRare, alongside TIME’s April 3, 2017 cover, “Is Truth Dead?” and the forthcoming March 29/April 5 cover, “Is Fiat Dead?”
The question “Is Fiat Dead?” references the meteoric decline in purchasing power of government-controlled currencies like the U.S. dollar. As TIME noted, a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC) is challenging present-day monetary norms through its fixed supply and transparent monetary policy.
“I love the idea that its meaning isn’t clear to the casual viewer – much like the crazy, lucrative world of NFTs,” says TIME Creative Director D.W. Pine, who designed the forthcoming “Is Fiat Dead?” cover.
The NFT market has exploded in popularity over the past year, with sales quadrupling in 2020 alone. As Cointelegraph recently reported, everyone from social media influencers to celebrities have embraced NFTs.
Investors are also taking notice. Just last week, NFT marketplace OpenSea raised $23 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and angel investors including Mark Cuban, Tim Ferriss and Naval Ravikant.
