US$2.3-million bid on Canadian Nissan NFT fails, art sells for US$220,000

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It seemed too wild to be true — and it was. Media reports that an online auction of digital artwork based on a Nissan GT-R had sold for two million dollars over asking are, well, wrong.

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Canadian futurist and artist Alex McLeod was commissioned to create the NFT (non-fungible token) by Nissan Canada, to celebrate the launch of the company’s Nissan GT-R Nismo Special Edition. The psychedelic work was directly inspired by the supercar.

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US$2.3-million bid on Canadian Nissan NFT fails, art sells for US$220,000 Back to video

The digital art – which lives solely on a blockchain, like most cryptocurrencies do – was placed on the auction block at RubiX Network, a prominent NFT marketplace , October 5 with a reserve of US$220,000 (CDN$280,000). The art’s sale also included the keys to a real 2021 Nissan GT-R Nismo, which not coincidentally costs about CDN$280,000, too.

At the sale’s close October 7, it seemed like a breathtaking winning bid of US$2,301,438 (CDN$2,840,803) had been placed, but RubiX Network today informed Driving that the mind-blowing offer was not validated and thus never collected. Nissan Canada had planned to donate the funds in excess of the reserve to charity.

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The one-of-a-kind digital artwork – which McLeod described as “bridging realities between our physical and imagined worlds” – was instead sold for its US$220,000 reserve.

Buyers interested in their own Special Edition Nismo GT-R can place their orders for the car once it arrives in Canada late this fall. Though the auction was international in scope, the winning bidder is required to pick up the vehicle at a Canadian dealership.