Oscar Holland, CNN and Megan C. Hills, CNN
An art collector says he paid more than $335,000 for a “fake” Banksy, to have the money returned to him through the alleged scammer.
The sale came after the graffiti artist’s homepage briefly directed users to an online auction that offered what gave the impression of being their first NFT, or non-fungible token.
The page that has since been removed, which gave the impression on Banksy’s official online page on Tuesday, featured a pixelated symbol of a character smoking sunglasses and a hat and is connected to an auction organized through opensea’s online marketplace, where the art (pictured above) was indexed as “Great Redistribution of the Climate Change Catastrophe” through a user named gaakmann, a reference to a nickname in the past used through the nameless artist.
Believing him to be a genuine Banksy, a UK-based collector, who markets virtual collectibles under the username Pranksy and describes himself as a “big fan” of the street artist, has featured the equivalent of over $335,500 in Ethereum cryptocurrencies. His bid was accepted without delay, ending the auction days earlier than expected, he has become “99% sure” that he had been the victim of fraud.
“As soon as (the offer) accepted, I felt it fake/hacked,” the collector said via email.
But in a probably odd twist, the merchant then returned all the money, minus the transaction fee, some time after the sale. The records stored on the Ethereum blockchain, a virtual ledger of all transactions involving the cryptocurrency, they seem to be the event collector’s edition.
The collector, who warned that Banksy’s had been hacked, said on Twitter that the scam could possibly have been painting an “ethical trick that proves a point. “
“Maybe (the merchant was) scared by the media policy that the hack received,” he later told CNN. “I’m not sure, but I’m very grateful that I recovered most of my Ethereum. “
Banksy’s representatives did not know how the symbol or link gave the impression on his official online page and did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. A spokesman for the graffiti artist told the BBC that “the Banksy NFT auction is not affiliated with the artist in any way form”.
Since then, some social media users have accused the fundraiser of orchestrating the incident for advertising purposes, he said he “had no preference for and did not want to make a move like this for coverage. “
“I aspire to paint with artists like Banksy for the long term and (to help them) be more informed about NFTs,” he added. “Hacking your online page and buying me an NFT wouldn’t be the most productive way to do it!”
NFTs have skyrocketed in recent months, providing creditors with a way to “own” and sell virtual assets as if they were physical assets. Renowned artists such as Damien Hirst, Daniel Arsham and John Gerrard began creating and promoting NFT works, with primary auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s now dedicated multimillion-dollar sales to tokens.
OpenSea lately lists piles of NFTs that represent or resemble the works of Banksy, the elusive artist never warned that he would sell virtual art. The platform did not respond to CNN’s request to comment on the incident or whether it planned to refund the deceived collector’s transaction fee.
Although he nearly lost thousands of dollars, the collector defended OpenSea and said he had waited for Banksy’s “official verification” before making an offer. “I hope to have some of his genuine paintings one day,” he added.
The-CNN-Wire ™
Terms of use |
| Privacy Policy
KTVZ-TV FCC public registry | CAF | Applications
Contact us |
Sell my non-public information