In brief
- EulerBeats is a ConsenSys-backed collection of audio NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
- 25 NFTs in its second series, Enigma, sold for at least 45 ETH, or around $85,000.
- One sold for more than $243,000.
- BeetsDAO, a group of investors formed through Discord, bought four of the NFTs.
EulerBeats "Enigma" NFTs all sold for at least 45 ETH each, or $85,000, in an auction on OpenSea that ended on Wednesday.
"Enigma" is the second batch of EulerBeats NFTs released into the wild, following last month’s "Genesis" collection. 25 of the 27 total beats in the collection were auctioned off, with one “set aside to donate to a DAO,” and the other “set aside for the EulerBeats Project team,” per the EulerBeats website.
Most of the NFTs went for well over 50 ETH, and the highest bid for a single NFT was 131.25 ETH, or more than $243,000. (EulerBeats is backed by Treum, which is backed by Ethereum studio ConsenSys, which also funds an editorially independent Decrypt.)
EulerBeats’ NFTs have become buzzy investments in the burgeoning market for digital collectibles, thanks in part to a ringing endorsement from Mark Cuban.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are blockchain-based tokens that can represent the ownership deed to any digital or physical asset, from virtual trading cards to albums to visual artworks to sports highlight clips. They are verifiably unique, typically one of a very limited batch or in some cases one of one, which explains their appeal as investments.
The idea with EulerBeats specifically is that each NFT is attached to an algorithmically generated audio file. (The project is named after mathematician and music theorist Leonhard Euler, pronounced "oiler.") When you buy the NFT, you’re investing in something that may appreciate over time, but you’re also guaranteeing yourself a portion of future royalties: the EulerBeats site lets anyone create “prints” of each file (160 of each, in the ‘Enigma’ collection), which can be sold on the secondary market—a process that positions the original NFT as a kind of master edition.
Over 1,000 ETH has already been paid out in EulerBeats royalties so far, according to data from Dune Analytics.
For a sense of just how frenzied the EulerBeats investing market has become, look no further than BeetsDAO, a closed investment group that raised over 300 ETH over the past week through an EulerBeats Discord channel to bid on EulerBeats in the Enigma auction in Wednesday. The 54-person group purchased four of the Enigma NFTs.
"The sky’s the limit for how we can use them, whether it’s remixing with other artists or using them in other materials," says Sasha Rosewood, who created the BeetsDAO investment pool with two partners. "When we think about where the space is heading, and how entities like this are going to be really disruptive, and how creatives are compensated, and the new digital creator economy that NFTs are unlocking, EulerBeats is exactly where we think it’s going, and it's kind of a perfect base for us to build on." BeetsDAO plans to launch a token (restricted to the group at first) to represent the value of its NFT collection.
Today’s EulerBeats sale suggests there’s still plenty of money to be wrung from NFTs in the music industry.
Kings of Leon attached NFTs to copies of their recent album, When You See Yourself, and artists like Grimes, Rico Nasty, Aphex Twin, Jacques Greene, 3lau, Yaeji, Mura Masa, and Toro Y Moi have all sold NFTs.
And with the hype has come backlash: some artists have sworn off Ethereum-based NFTs entirely, citing concerns about their ecological footprint. Marketplaces like SuperRare, Nifty Gateway, and Zora have all invested in dedicated carbon offsets—no word yet on whether EulerBeats plans to do the same.
This post was updated with the section about BeetsDAO on March 31 at 3:55pm EST.