Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht’s Genesis NFT Auction Closes at $6.27 Million

BY Langston Thomas

December 09, 2021

One of the most famous names in all of crypto has now been immortalized on the blockchain. After six days at auction, the Ross Ulbricht Genesis NFT Collection was purchased for 1446 ETH ($6.27M).

Unveiled at Christie’s x nft now’s “The Gateway” event, the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection marks the entry of the infamous entrepreneur — who previously went by the moniker Dread Pirate Roberts — into the NFT space. Featuring 10 pieces of art by Ulbricht himself plus an original animation by multimedia artist LEViT∆TE, the collection was purchased by the FreeRossDAO, a collective born from the influential PleasrDAO.

With this unprecedented sale, we head towards the close of an absolutely massive week for the NFT space. With Pak setting a new high sale world record right before the close of Christie’s first-ever on-chain auction, the Ross Ulbricht NFT sale is undoubtedly deserved of its very own chapter in the annals of the NFT space.

“It was incredibly special to have Ross drop his genesis piece on SuperRare. NFTs are having an immeasurable impact on not only artists, but also the causes they support,” Co-Founder and CEO of SuperRare John Crain tells nft now. “Overnight a DAO was formed to support the FreeRoss initiative and bid in the auction. This record-breaking sale will certainly go down in history as a special moment for crypto art.”

The winner and prominent player in this landmark auction, FreeRossDAO, came into the picture only days ago. With a published manifesto aimed to free Ulbricht, share his art with the world and advance prison reform, while the DAO won the collection at 1,446 ETH, the organization was ready to utilize an apparent treasury of 2,836 ETH ($12+ million).

Currently serving his ninth year of a double life + 40-year sentence for nonviolent charges, Ulbricht launched the Genesis Collection in hopes of bringing renewed attention to his case and freedom efforts. Now, with $6.27 million in tow, he and his team will execute on plans to start a donor-advised fund called Art4Giving — dedicated to relieving the suffering of the incarcerated and their families.

Photos courtesy of SuperRare & Ross Ulbricht.

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