Renowned British artist Damien Hirst has launched his own non-fungible token named ‘The Currency’ that will force buyers to choose between a £1,400 physical painting or obtain an online token instead

Renowned British artist Damien Hirst has launched his own non-fungible token named ‘The Currency’ that will force buyers to choose between a £1,400 physical painting or obtain an online token instead. 

Mr Hirst, 56, has started selling 10,000 non-fungible tokens — a digitised method of storing collectable unique assets such as works of art — that represent 10,000 of his unique A4 enamel works he made in 2016. 

The physical works are said to be stored in an undisclosed location, nft drop within a ‘secure vault’. 

The $2,000 (£1,443) NFTs will contain high resolution images of both the front and back of the spotty artwork created by the British artist, who reportedly has a net worth of more than £315 million.

While the NFT’s owners will be able to trade their asset freely, whoever is in possession of the token two months after its issue will face a difficult choice: Keep the NFT or the physical piece of artwork.

While they make look similar, the 2016 works were originally made using handmade piece of A4 paper, with each containing a signature, hologram and watermark of Mr Hirst’s head. 

No two colours used are the same, and each print has its own title. 

Anyone hoping to grab their own print will have to fill in an application process that started today and lasts for one week.  

Speaking in a video interview with the Financial Times, Hirst explains why he has opted for this ‘experiment’: nft art ‘I’m forcing people to make a choice.But the purchaser always has a choice. 

‘It’s not just ‘where’s the value?’. It’s also ‘where’s the joy?»  

After two months, art collectors could be faced with the full allocation of non-fungible tokens, 10,000 pieces of artwork or ethn.icnqev a mixture of both. 

Once a customer makes their choice between the physical or digital copy, Www.Hamburgerhelen.Com the other will be destroyed.Hirst has promised the physical artworks will all be collected and destroyed together publicly at a later date. 

Referencing the tough choice consumers will be faced to make, Hirst remarks: ‘It’s exciting.’ 

‘I really don’t know what people will do.’ 

Earlier this year, a digital collage by American artist Beeple which exists only as a JPG file sold for Non-fungible token a record $69.3 (£50.53) million at Christie’s, fetching more money than physical works by many better-known artists. 

39-year-old Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, is now among the top three most valuable living artists in any medium alongside Jeff Koons and David Hockney.

NFTs are known by some as the future of digital art, as they allow collectors to purchase works that lack a physical component.

Mr Hirst previously said: ‘For the past three years the project has been expanding into blockchain and NFTs.

‘I made them all 5 years ago, and they are in a vault but about to come to life through their launch on the blockchain. They also exist as NFTs and a related crypto currency.

‘The whole project is an artwork, and anyone who buys ‘The Currency’ will participate in this work.It’s not just about owning it.’ 

<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-70fe9eb0-e4c4-11eb-bb80-c71fd3e7e449" website Hirst launches 10,000 non-fungible tokens called &apos;The Currency&apos;