Tiger King jumps on NFT craze from Texas prison
Jun 15, 2021, 11:24 AM
Joseph Maldonado-Passage aka Joe Exotic and one of his cats in the Netflix docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness." Credit: NETFLIX/Courtesy of NETFLIX
FORT WORTH, Texas — The self-described, “gay, gun-carrying redneck with a mullet” is jumping on the NFT craze from federal prison. Starting on Friday, Joe Exotic, the star of Netflix’s Tiger King, is selling a number of real-life collectibles and alongside the non-fungible tokens.
On Tuesday Exotic, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage announced his partnership with the cryptocurrency platform MORE to auction off his favorite pistol and holster, the jackets he wore on ‘Tiger King,’ along with digital artwork and tokens and other items.
“Whether you love me or hate me for what you think I’ve done, there’s no doubt that everyone wants a piece of The Tiger King!” Exotic said.
“I hope whoever purchases my favorite belongings is able to give them a well-deserved home. Being able to auction off collectibles makes me feel connected with the outside world, especially without my cats by my side.”
Exotic was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in federal prison for a failed plot to murder his big cat rival Carole Baskin, as well as violating several federal wildlife laws.
What’s in the Tiger King NFT drop?
7 items will be up for auction starting on Friday.
- Joe Exotic’s pistol and holster (Certified by Smith & Wesson), 3-D model and physical item included
- Joe Exotic’s original fringed leather jacket, 3-D model and physical item included
- Joe Exotic’s black leather jacket and pants set, 3-D model and physical items included
- Rachel Starr’s bikini as seen on ‘Tiger King’, 3-D model and physical item included
- Joe Exotic authentic audio recordings from prison
- Joe Exotic digital trading cards, 15 digital trading cards will be available for purchase along with a hardcopy autographed collectible
- Joe Exotic cryptocurrency themed digital artworks
The items will be hosted on Mintable, an NFT marketplace and bidders can visit www.officialtigerkingnft.com.
Exotic is the first celebrity MORE is working with their celebrity NFT program, which is something MORE’s CEO said has the potential to change the industry of famous collectibles.
“I’m confident that MORE’s foray into the celebrity NFT space will help officially bridge this gap and give people access to authentic unique goods they would otherwise not have access to,” said Peter Klamka.
“There’s no better way to engage the mainstream in blockchain technology than to tie in familiar faces and names. Joe Exotic is America’s favorite meme and anomaly; I’m extremely excited to be working with him and his team on this project to keep his story alive while he remains in prison.”
What is an NFT
NFT’s or non-fungible tokens have been the latest craze to sweep the art and technology world and they have been wildly successful. In February this year, artist Beeple sold a piece of digital art for over $69 million and became the world’s third-most valuable artist.
But what the heck is an NFT? It’s basically a digital certificate of authenticity that can’t be forged or faked because it’s backed up by a bunch of math and certified through others.
In short, NFTs use the same sort of crowdsourced leger that cryptocurrencies use called the blockchain. The blockchain is a decentralized ledger kept by users all around the world that records transactions, this is helpful in the world of NFTs because it can show a chain of custody of who owns a specific piece of art, or a red pixel.
In short, NFTs are basically digital collectibles that grant whoever owns them exclusive ownership rights.
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