First Rhino Horn NFT Sold At Auction In South Africa

A digital replica of a rhino horn sold at an auction in South Africa late Thursday, as conservationists tapped into the craze for NFTs to raise money to protect real rhinos

Cape Town, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Nov, 2021 ) :A digital replica of a rhino horn sold at an auction in South Africa late Thursday, as conservationists tapped into the craze for NFTs to raise money to protect real rhinos.

Cape Town businessman Charl Jacobs paid 105,000 rand (6,850 dollars, 6,000 Euros) for the digital horn, which he said he plans to place into a trust for his children.

"If worst-case scenario, if rhinos go into complete disarray then I would still own a rhino horn, because the NFT is a token of the physical rhino horn," he told AFP.

Proceeds from the sale go to the private Black Rock Rhino conservancy, home to 200 rhinos that are able to breed while protected from poachers.

"We are doubling our population every four years. So it's a really important conservation project," said conservationist Derek Lewitton.

"But it costs a fortune. If you don't want to get poached, you have to spend a ton in terms of manpower and security infrastructure. and this a way to help us fund that."Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have made a huge splash among art collectors who have spent millions of Dollars on digital drawings, music, and videos.