Logan Paul stumbles into 'great debate' over NFT rocks

NelsonG · August 27, 2021

Pretend flat-Earther and aspiring intellectual Logan Paul says he just spent $155,000 on two NFTs tied to pixelated images of rocks. The non-fungible tokens, part of the We Like The Rocks project, represent two of 100 unique pixelated images of rocks which are (as of the time of this writing) listed for sale for anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.

And while a big sale to an internet celeb might outwardly seem like a good sign for NFT stones, all is not well in Rockville. That's because there are actually two distinct NFT rock projects, both dating back years, which are simultaneously vying for the internet's attention.

"The first rock NFT on Ethereum @weliketherocks; actually came before the Ether rock," wrote Paul on Friday, referencing the competing NFT rock projects. "I know it's ridiculous but it's digital history and I think they're pretty cool"

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The two projects, Ether Rock and We Like The Rocks (the latter of which Paul bought), outwardly appear quite similar. Both are NFTs initially launched in 2017, and both involve 100 unique pixelated images of rocks.

However, with groundbreaking NFT projects like CryptoPunks selling for millions of dollars worth of crypto, whichever project can claim OG status stands to gain a valuable claim to fame — a fact not lost on those behind the competing projects.

"Beware of any other projects claiming to sell rock NFT's, which may either be scams and/or using buggy exploited contracts (e.g. 'we like the rocks' or weliketherocks.com)," cautions Ether Rock.

Meanwhile, We Like The Rocks is dropping meme after meme aimed at tarnishing Ether Rock's rep.

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So what's really going on here? One CryptoPunk enthusiast, whose Twitter bio lists them as chief of staff at the company behind Yats, attempted to explain the source of the controversy in a detailed Twitter thread.

"A great debate is happening right now in the world of NFTs," opened the thread. "Which is the 'real' NFT Rock ? Yes, you heard me. A rock "

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The question, which non-fungible token rock project is the real non-fungible token rock project, reads like a New Age koan — but that hasn't prevented supporters of each project from hashing it out over Twitter in real time.