CoinDesk Turns 10 – 2020: The Rise of the Meme Economy

In early 2021, out of work, stuck at home, and with plenty of time on his hands, Torres experimented with NFTs. In February 2021, he sold an NFT of the Nyan Cat for 300 ETH, worth roughly $590,000 at the time. To those just skimming the headlines, the sale signaled that the crypto bull run had gone too far, that the space had lost its collective mind. To Torres, the sale was an overdue recognition of ownership. “It really wasn’t until Web3 that I was able to sustain myself,” says Torres, who now works full-time as an artist and helps other meme-creators monetize their work.