- Paris Hilton may be doing more for blockchain technology than previously thought following her NFT auction last week
- Hilton auctioned off a digital drawing of her cat for 40 ETH for charity
- The surprising move comes almost four years after she was first exposed to blockchain technology
Paris Hilton is no stranger to blockchain and cryptocurrency. Her exposure to the sector goes back to at least September 2016, and last week she auctioned off a digital drawing of her cat on the Ethereum blockchain, raising $17,000 for charity in the process. Is her involvement in the space just another opportunity for her to promote her brand, or is Paris Hilton becoming an unexpected crypto ambassador?
Paris Hilton is More Than a Face for an ICO
Paris Hilton’s first public exposure to crypto wasn’t, as many people think, through the ill-fated Lydian Coin ICO of September 2017. She made headlines when she fronted Lydian, an ICO for a marketing-related blockchain project, becoming the most high-profile celebrity to become involved in a cryptocurrency sector that was attracting the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Jamie Foxx, and Katy Perry at the time.
Lydian may have fallen off the face of the earth (by the middle of 2018 the coin was virtually worthless and the project has no traces remaining online), but Paris Hilton’s seemingly sudden association with blockchain and cryptocurrency threw up something more interesting – an Instagram post by former Ethereum CCO Stephan Tua from September 2016 featuring him, two associates, and Paris Hilton at a table discussing how they were “about to venture into the new millennium of technology, community and social services in the most mind blowing way.”
This meeting doesn’t seem to have come to much, but it may have given Hilton a taste of what cryptocurrency and blockchain is all about.
Hilton Tokenizes Cat Drawing
The Lydia Coin ICO didn’t do Paris Hilton’s reputation much good in crypto circles, but last week’s actions certainly did. On behalf of Ethereum-based auction platform Cryptograph she tokenized a digital drawing of her cat, Munchkin, and sold it for 40 ETH ($17,000) on the Ethereum network.
Today I am auctioning off my @Cryptograph of #Munchkin to benefit 3 amazing charities: @LAFoodBank @MealsOnWheels @BB4Homeless. The auction is live now for the next 72 hours at https://t.co/rCroea8vCg pic.twitter.com/XP18LGtHsi
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) August 13, 2020
The proceeds went to three charities, and the fact that the name of Paris Hilton is now attached, however briefly, to the NFT movement and the Ethereum blockchain rather than just a crappy ICO could be a sign that the heiress is taking more interest in the nuts and bolts of blockchain, which would be a huge boost in getting people, especially girls, more interested in the space. At the very least it raises the profile of NFTs and shows people what they are all about.
Of course, it could just be that Hilton was simply asked to draw a cat on an iPad and still has no idea an NFT is, but we like to think positively.
