Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda Gets in on the Cryptocurrency ‘NFT Art’ Craze

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda has sold his first piece of crypto art using the NFT (non-fungible token) cryptocurrency, the musician joining the booming trend where creators trade one-of-a-kind works for the special type of cryptographic token while retaining the art's copyright.

Shinoda put the digital artwork, called "One Hundredth Stream," up for sale on the crypto-driven online marketplace Zora last week. Midway through Sunday (Feb. 7), as Decrypt reported, the composition's highest bid came in at 18,000 DAI, a stablecoin cryptocurrency that closely parallels the U.S. dollar — meaning users valued it at around $18,000. Later that same day, Zora announced that Shinoda had accepted a bid equaling $30,000 (200 WETH), and the musician plans to donate that to charity.

For those unfamiliar with the various NFT types and their exchange rates, investing platform Coindesk explains that NFTs are independently unique and "cannot be directly exchanged with one another. … Even those that exist on the same platform, game or in the same collection. Think of them as festival tickets. Each ticket contains specific information including the purchaser’s name, the date of the event and the venue. This data makes it impossible for festival tickets to be traded with one another."

In a Feb. 6 Twitter thread, Shinoda explained the basics of NFT art's terms and the ownership of the work.

"The [NFT] I posted will be (must be, by design) 1 of 1," the musician said. "What you own: the file (art?) I uploaded on the http://zora.co platform. I can't upload that file again. You don't own the 'song' or 'master' or 'copyright,' but you own the file. For example, if I write an original lyric on a piece of paper, I own that lyric. If you buy that piece of paper, you own that paper. And it is one-of-a-kind. In this case, you get a certificate of authenticity via blockchain that you are the sole owner."

He further asserted that creators have been "commodified by platforms forever. Here, the value of your work/art/idea is defined by the market. This NFT started at $0. Apparently, people think this creation is worth a lot more. For those wondering what we're talking about. More to come…"

Another tweet saw Shinoda dedicating the $30,000 "to the 'Michael K Shinoda Endowed Scholarship' at [ArtCenter College of Design] to benefit students based on artistic merit and financial need."

Following the successful process of crypto-exchanging "One Hundredth Stream," Shinoda has uploaded additional pieces of NFT art, including the compositions "Distractions" and "Nutrition."