EtherRock is an early example of JPEG files tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain, marking one of the NFT market's oldest collections. It has seen various ups and downs, enjoying a resurgence in the winter of 2024.
The tale might come as a surprise, starting back in 1975 with 39-year-old media editor Gary Dahl, who, while drinking at a bar with friends, humorously lamented the hassles of pet care. He quipped that his ideal pet was a rock, entirely hassle-free. Charmed by his wit, Dahl spent weeks drafting a comprehensive care manual for rocks, spanning over thirty pages.
The jest escalated when Dahl imported the first batch of rocks from Mexican beaches. In just a few months, he was selling about 10,000 Pet Rock stone pets daily. The concept caught wildfire, and the craze for Gary Dahl's rocks persisted for about six months, with approximately 1.5 million units sold, catapulting Dahl into millionaire status.
Gary Dahl's PetRock captivated millions. Source: sealed.sothebys.com
Over four decades later, the innovative ideas of an entrepreneurial editor inspired the EtherRock NFT series (also referred to as EthRock). Like Gary Dahl, the collection's creators relied on their instincts. They didn't overly concern themselves with the design: the basic "rock" images were sourced from the free Clipart Library. The creators mainly used shades of gray and brown to color the original sketches, with a few tokens also appearing in blue, considered the rarest. The collection, which was launched in December 2017 shortly after the release of the legendary CryptoPunks, consists of only 100 minted NFTs.
The project's authors later confessed that they were complete novices at the collection's inception, viewing it all as a humorous experiment. Moreover, the developers were keen to practice with Ethereum's Solidity programming language.
These virtual rocks serve NO PURPOSE beyond being able to be brought and sold, and giving you a strong sense of pride in being an owner of 1 of the only 100 collectible rocks,the project's creators highlight.
The first rock was nearly immediately sold for about 0.1 ETH. Within the next three years, approximately 30 units were sold.
EtherRock NFTs Source: etherrock.com
Enter Gennady Alexandrovich Vaynerchuk, more commonly known by his alias Gary Vee, originally from Bobruisk (now Belarus), an American millionaire, and a prominent figure in the crypto community. Gary Vee tweeted about the project, simply stating, "this." It's believed that his tweet from August 2021 sparked the rapid price increase of EtherRock.
The minimum price for one "rock" soon reached $300,000. After crypto magnate Justin Sun disclosed he spent $500,000 on the fashionable token, the average price for an EtherRock soared above $1 million. For instance, EtherRock #42, a reddish-brown token, was sold for $1.3 million.
During the NFT boom, fortunes could change in a mere second. For example, a crypto trader known as Dino Dealer mistakenly listed his EtherRock NFT for sale at 444 GWEI instead of 444 ETH, resulting in a loss of about $1 million. The token was instantly purchased by a bot. Despite Dino Dealer's lamenting interviews, claiming it was all his money, the fortunate buyer quickly offered the token for $600,000.
Speculation and excitement around EtherRock persisted until the crypto winter, which brutally "froze" the NFT mania. Talks of an NFT market crash became more frequent as the industry faced a systemic crisis. The asking price for collectible EtherRocks hardly exceeded $500.
It wasn't until mid-February 2024 that another EtherRock, #46, was sold for $496,658, just before the start of a private Sotheby's auction featuring some NFTs from the EtherRock collection. Speculations arose that the exorbitant price of the sold NFT #46 was merely an attempt to drum up public interest for the forthcoming auction.
However, investor interest extended beyond "rocks" to other Ethereum blockchain NFT collections. For instance, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) #1726 was purchased for an astonishing $668,297. Analysts view this as a natural resurgence of interest in Ethereum following the popularity of Bitcoin Ordinals and Solana NFTs. While investors previously navigated between different types of digital assets (cryptocurrencies, meme coins, NFTs), they are now exploring various blockchain technologies.
Meanwhile, Sotheby's experts praise EtherRock. “Ether Rocks mark a pivotal moment in digital collectibles,” they assert.
