An NFT collection featuring artwork by Johnny Depp has seen its price jump after the actor won a defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard yesterday.
— Never Fear Truth (@JohnnyDeppNFT) June 1, 2022
The 3,850 "Never Fear Truth" NFTs have a floor price of 0.52 ETH (around $944) as of this writing. Before the televised defamation trial, the collection had not seen much traction since March 11, when its floor price peaked at 1.64 ETH. At that time, Ethereum was trading at $2,664, per CoinMarketCap. The collection first launched in January with a starting price of 0.70 ETH.
The "Never Fear Truth" collection of generative art on OpenSea is minted on Ethereum, featuring artwork by Depp. The project was verified as authentic by MakersPlace last month. Among the collection are images of "Friends and Heroes" from Depp's past, including Heath Ledger, Tim Burton, River Phoenix, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino, and Hunter S. Thompson.
607 of the pieces feature Depp himself.
“In this first public exposure of Johnny's art, he has focussed on people he has known well, and who have inspired him as a person,” the description reads. “Each image is an intimate reflection of their character in Johnny's eyes; a portrayal of how they have revealed themselves to him.”
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographically unique tokens linked to digital (and sometimes physical) content, providing proof of ownership. According to the OpenSea listing, each "Never Fear Truth" NFT will act as a membership to a creative community and future releases by Depp.
Decrypt Learn: What Are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)?
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are digital assets that are provably unique. They can be used to represent both tangible and intangible items.
Depp is not the first controversial celebrity to enter the NFT marketplace. In December, the rapper turned actor Ice-T launched an NFT collection with Niftify. Ice-T's 1992 album "Body Count" was nationally controversial for the protest song "Cop Killer," written from the perspective of a character fed up with police brutality.
We Watched the Viral 2-Hour 'Problem With NFTs' Video So You Don't Have To
On January 21, the YouTube channel Folding Ideas, created by Dan Olson, posted a video titled “Line Goes Up—The Problem with NFTs.” The video is well over two hours long and criticizes cryptocurrency and NFTs. It’s since gone viral, with nearly 4 million views and 232,000 likes. Here’s a roundup of the video’s key points relating to NFTs, which are unique tokens that exist on a blockchain like Ethereum. NFTs prove one’s ownership over a digital asset such as an image or a video. In his video, O...
Of course, NFTs have become controversial, with gamers and artists pushing back against what they see as a cash grab or, worse, a scam, not to mention the environmental impact of NFTs minted on proof of work blockchains like Ethereum that is in the process of shifting to a proof of stake algorithm.
