A magnum of Champagne Avenue Foch 2017 has broken records to become the most expensive champagne ever sold. There’s a catch, though. The eye-watering bottle of fizz – that fetched a cool $2.5m – was purchased with an NFT attached that gives the new owner the digital art and intellectual property rights to an image of the ‘Bored-Ape Mutant’ and other collectible characters.
Shammi Shinh is the man behind the bottle. In 2013, the British entrepreneur – and avid NFT trader – hit the headlines when he released the Taste of Diamonds champagne which was bought by One Direction’s then-19-year-old Liam Payne for $1.4m.
For his latest venture, Shinh partnered with The Bored Ape Yacht Club – a collection of 1,000 unique Bored Ape NFTs and 20,000 Mutant Ape digital collectibles that live on the Ethereum blockchain and usually sell for around $200k each. The bottle itself was designed in collaboration with artist Mig, while the champagne is made from 100% Premier Cru grapes, produced at the family-owned estate in Allouchery, Chamery.
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“NFTs are the new diamonds,” said Shinh. “This one-of-one bottle features art from NFT collections that have over a billion dollars in sales. Encrusted with diamond-cut Swarovski crystals with pure pewter embedded in the design, I wanted to create something timeless for the modern investor, nothing less than a masterpiece.”
So who bought the most expensive bottle of champagne on the planet? “I knew the quality of the buyer has to be one of my jet set clients because they are up to date with all of the happenings within the crypto and NFT space as they are exposed to so much knowledge during their travels, as am I,” explained Shinh.
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Italian cryptocurrency investors Giovanni and Piero Buono spent 2500 ETH on OpenSea (the equivalent to $2.5m) to secure the magnum, joining a slew of celebrities who have previously bought NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club including Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Madonna. But the brothers are unlikely to be drinking the precious fizz anytime soon.
“As it is sold as an NFT, I expect it to be traded a few times in the marketplace before the physical bottle lands with the right individual who will HODL (hold on for dear life),” said Shinh. “In order to receive the physical champagne bottle, the buyer will need to burn the NFT. The champagne itself is a work of art and unmatched quality.”
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[See also: Oceanco Launches First Superyacht NFT Collection]
