As the non-fungible token boom continues to gain pace, it appears that some creators and investors are particularly obsessed with the number 8.
CryptoPunks, many of which have been sold at skyrocketing prices, are among the cases where buyers just needed to make sure the number “8” was involved in some way.
For example, CryptoPunk 8888 was traded for 888.8 ETH (US$2.87 million) earlier this week, despite the fact that this specific NFT was sold for only 33.1 ETH in the previous deal.
On Makersplace, an NFT collector named 888 purchased many NFTs at prices that included at least one such number.
Just as the idea of pet rocks caught on in the real world — a hobby that traces back to the 1970s — the virtual world of NFTs is no slouch in following a quirky fad fascination. Justin Sun, crypto platform TRON’s flamboyant founder, recently spent over US$600,000 on an EtherRock, an NFT featuring a painting of a rock.
Some investors of such EtherRocks also favor the number 8. One collector tweeted that “I’m a proud owner of Rock ID #58 (我發)” earlier this month. This buyer specified that the number 58 sounds similar to “Wo Fa” in Chinese, which means getting rich.
Over the past weekend, EtherRock 27 was sold for 888 ETH (US$2.87 million).
Such obsession over 8s could be related to the fact that the Chinese pronunciation of the number 8 or “Ba” is similar to that of “發” or “Fa,” which stands for wealth and prosperity.
Pochang Wu, a co-founder of Taiwan-based NFT platform OURSONG, told Forkast.News that such correlation could be valid especially when “there are so many crypto whales in the Chinese-language world.” Cryptocurrency whales are typically referred to as those who hold a large amount of crypto.
“That’s the same in the conventional art world. An artist friend of mine once asked his buyers if they would favor any specific publishing sequence number,” said Justine Lu, CEO of Taipei-headquartered NFT marketplace Lootex. “Some people just love to get a number they favor.”
The number 8 could mean different things to some other NFT enthusiasts. One creator said the number is similar to the symbol for infinity. A collector who appeared to purchase CrpytoPunk 8888 tweeted that “I like the number 8 because it looks like a snowman.”