London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Banksy print destroyed by fire (goes up in value by $300,000)

Banksy print destroyed by fire (goes up in value by $300,000)

Work by street artist sold for more than four-times gallery price after being incinerated

How do you make a $95,000 screen-print by street artist Banksy four times more valuable? The answer, it would seem, is by incinerating it.

Three years after the artist rigged up a painting to self-shred itself as it was being auctioned, a group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts have gone a step further.

A 2006 print by the artist - number 325 of an edition of 500 - was bought from a New York gallery in January by a group known as Injective Protocol for $95,000.

It was scanned and transformed into a unique digital asset known as a non-fungible token (NFT) which was uploaded and stored in the digital ether of blockchain. The physical print was then slowly torched on camera in a Brooklyn park.


The moment of destruction was live-streamed on the twitter account of its owner, a collective using the name BurntBanksy.

The NFT - effectively the artwork’s digital remains - was then offered for sale on the OpenSea auction platform and, after a bidding war involving more than 70 different parties, reached a closing price of 228.69 units of cryptocurrency Etherium - today worth around $400,000.

While anyone can view or display the image, only the new owner - listed on the site as ‘Galaxy’ - can trade the digital original: their ownership is hardwired into its mathematical code, certifying ownership until it is again sold on.

The bizarre, destructive method of buying and selling art has been gaining ground among the crypto communities in recent months.

What started with bad cartoons and flying poptart kittens encoded by enthusiastic amateurs into the vast strings of binary code that makes up blockchain is now attracting serious players.

Other moments in time captured in digital kryptonite as NFTs and now being traded include Jack Dorsey’s first tweet (‘just setting up my twttr”), video clips of major sporting moments, Wiliam Shatner trading cards, and tracks on the new Kings Of Leon release.

The Banksy purchase is thought to be its first venture into the verified works of a mainstream artist.

"Our aim is to bridge the world of traditional art with the world of NFTs"


BurntBanksy explained: “We specifically chose a Banksy piece since he has previously shredded one of his own artworks at an auction. We view this burning event as an expression of art itself.


“We are generating a new form of artwork via the creation of this unique NFT that is a direct representation of the physical.”

Their argument is effectively, that the digital token is of greater value than the original work because it is safe from loss, theft, damage or vandalism - by people such as themselves.

Mirza Uddin, a spokesman for Injective Protocol, said the group planned to give the proceeds from the NFT sale to a Covid-19 based charity: “We’re already planning our next event in collaboration with a prominent artist.

“Our aim is to bridge the world of traditional art with the world of NFTs. So, we’ll definitely be doing more to uphold this ethos,” he told CoinDesk.

Ali Raza, of inside bitcoins, said: “Sadly, the new trend of burning paintings to ash after they were tokenized as an NFT is becoming alarmingly more common.


“Granted, it’s a good way to boost the value of the NFT, making it the true “one and only” art piece but it’s a sad sight to see for many to witness the destruction of art just to validate another piece of art.“

Adding an extra layer of irony to an already tangled tale, the 2006 Banksy original was a critique on madness in the art market.

An auctioneer points at framed paintings amid a crowded auction room: next to him stands a framed image with the words: “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this s**t.”


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×