Someone Bought a $500K House They Can Only Pretend to Live In

Latest non-fungible token, or NFT, is a home on Mars to be viewed via images or augmented reality
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2021 10:10 AM CDT

Non-fungible tokens have become all the rage in recent days, with one artist selling his NFT earlier this month for a record $69.3 million. Now, the new cryptocurrency—a unique digital file linked to a blockchain, which often includes such content as artwork, videos, and even social media posts—is moving into the real estate market, reports Fox Business. What that boils down to is that someone just bought a "house" on the Red Planet for $500,000, even though it doesn't exist in tangible form and the buyer can't actually live in it. Per CNBC, Toronto digital artist Krista Kim has sold her "Mars House," billed as the "first NFT digital house in the world," for 288 ether (worth about $512,712 in that cryptocurrency), and she told the outlet's "Squawk Alley" last week that her creation is just one representation of a shift toward more immersive virtual experiences. "I actually foresee that we will be living in an augmented reality lifestyle within a very short period," Kim said, maybe even in a "couple years."

She added that NFTs are going to play a large part in that. "We're going to be decorating our environments and our personal space, our fashion," she noted. "People express themselves with tattoos. It’s an art form. Well, people are also going to express themselves with digital assets and decorative pieces and collectibles, fashion, accessories." The new owner of Mars House will receive the one and only digital file from Kim and be able to upload it into 3D "metaverses," where they'll be able to explore and "live" in it. The New York Post notes Mars House doesn't have a kitchen, because "there's no way to eat food in cyberspace," though it does come with "sweeping views," an infinity pool, and contemporary transparent furniture. "I see it as a weekend home, like a villa," Kim tells the paper, noting the design was inspired by the ancient Zen gardens of Kyoto in Japan. "It's perfect for a couple." (More NFT stories.)

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