In The Simpsons episode Bart Sells His Soul, Bart, who does not believe in the soul, sells his own soul to Milhouse for $5 and later regretfully tries to get it back. The episode and story ended with Bart eating the physical piece of paper on which he had written “The Spirit of Bart Simpson.”
We’d say it’s a simple solution for an animated series, but a person selling their soul as an unchangeable token (NFT) might be in a much more difficult position.
21-year-old Hague art academy student Stijn van Schaik presented his “soul” as a digital artwork to an NFT market, Crypto Insiders reported. If you are looking for a spare soul you can buy it from OpenSea where it is listed as “Soul of Stinus”.
“Hello person, you’re looking at a soul right now,” says Van Schaik in the sales flyer. Let’s find out.”
Despite their digital status, NFTs are “unique” and can be reproduced, which creates a lot of controversy. But being reproduced may raise many new questions for this “spirit”.
It seems The Simpsons may once again have unwittingly predicted the future, because the new owner of Schaik’s soul is free to sell it, as in The Simpsons episode. But Van Shaik outlines a few rules in a “soul sale agreement” about who the soul can be sold to, and even provides fair use details.
writes Van Shaik, “Exemplary uses of Spirit permitted under these circumstances include (but are not limited to): … to sacrifice or to offer.”
Van Schaik’s spirit had only received one bid at the time of publication, at the price of 0.1 Ethereum (~$378)…
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