This fall, the William S. Paley Foundation will hold an auction featuring works of art valued at at least $70 million in order to increase the digital presence of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and possibly acquire the institution’s first NFTs.

Since the passing of the co-founder of CBS in 1990, William S. Paley’s collection has been maintained by MoMA. Sotheby’s has been hired by Paley’s namesake organization, which includes endowment funds for museums and educational and cultural activities, to auction off 29 of the 81 items in the MoMA collection.

The sale proceeds will go toward growing the museum’s online presence. MoMA’s director Glenn Lowry stated in the Wall Street Journal that the museum had suggested several potential uses for the funds.

MoMA may start its streaming service, organize online exhibitions and video discussions with artists, or work with colleges and training organizations to offer online courses. More importantly for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, MoMA might also buy its first NFTs.

According to Lowry, the museum has a dedicated team monitoring the digital art scene to hunt for suitable artists to collaborate with or buy from.

In the interview, he added of NFTs, “We’re aware that we lend an imprimatur when we acquire things, but that doesn’t mean we should shun the domain.

What’s on offer?
The William S. Paley Foundation and MoMA have an agreement that gives MoMA the final say in how the collection is used. Other humanitarian endeavors championed by the late Paley will receive a tiny share of the proceeds from the autumn auction.

Most of the collection’s most famous works, such as Picasso’s “Boy Leading a Horse” from 1905–06 and Matisse’s “Woman with a Veil,” are not for sale. Rousseau and a Renoir, on the other hand, will be sold at auction, according to Lowry.

According to Sotheby’s, Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies for a Portrait of Henrietta Moraes” will be auctioned for at least $35 million in London in October, and Pablo Picasso’s “Guitar on a Table” will be sold for at least $20 million in New York this November.

It’s anticipated that the collection would bring in between $70 and $100 million.

Despite not yet owning a tokenized work of art on the blockchain, MoMA has already contributed to the development of NFTs. The MoMA gave all of its collection’s information in November of last year to the Unsupervised exhibition and NFT project by AI artist Refik Anadol.

Ford Motor Company, an American automaker, has filed 19 trademark applications across its key automobile brands as it prepares to enter the realm of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the Metaverse.

Mike Kondoudis, a trademark attorney licensed by the United States Patent and Trade Office (USPTO), disclosed in a tweet on Wednesday that the business had submitted a total of 19 trademark applications covering its car brands, including Mustang, Bronco, Lincoln, Explorer, and F-150 Lightning, among others.

The trademark applications include a projected online marketplace for NFTs and virtual versions of its businesses’ automobiles, trucks, vans, SUVs, and clothes.

Ford intends to produce digital images of its vehicles, SUVs, trucks, and vans that will be verified by NFTs, according to USPTO filings submitted by the automaker on September 2.

The business also disclosed plans for “downloadable virtual commodities,” or “computer programs,” that would include apparel, accessories, and parts for vehicles for usage in “online virtual environments,” such as virtual and augmented reality trade exhibitions.

Additionally, there are plans to develop an online marketplace for “others’ digital artwork” as well as “online retail shop services featuring non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital collectibles.”

Less than a month after Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley announced significant personnel reductions from its global workforce to decrease corporate expenses; Ford has decided to enter the Web3 area.

Ford isn’t the first automaker to enter the Metaverse market.

While premium automakers like Bentley and Lamborghini have already launched NFT collections, automakers including Nissan, Toyota, and Hyundai have indicated ambitions to enter the fast-expanding Metaverse market.

Yesterday, according to Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Although her loss triggered a global outpouring of sympathy and grief, it has also been exploited as a money-grab.

Elizabeth II, monarch
Grift endures eternally, but the Queen is gone.

There are over 40 meme coins on Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain thanks to Queen Elizabeth’s passing (and at least one exploitative NFT collection).

While the news of the British monarch’s demise saddened people worldwide, cryptocurrency scammers took advantage of the occasion to launch dozens of meme coins with Queen themes on Ethereum and Binance’s BNB Chain.

Among the new crypto coins that were introduced are “Queen Elizabeth Inu,” “Queen Doge,” “God Save The Queen,” “London Bridge Is Down,” “Queen Grow,” “Rip Queen Elizabeth,” “Elizabeth II,” and “Queen Inu II.” Other tokens with the name of the next king, King Charles III, have also appeared. According to DexScreener, at least 40 separate meme coins appear to have been produced in the previous six hours.

The most liquid tokens, Save The Queen and Queen Elizabeth Inu, have already processed trade volumes of around $700,000 and $200,000 since their debut. At the time of writing, the price of Queen Elizabeth Inu is up 1,517%, while it has increased by 23,271% on Binance Smart Chain and 3,708% on Uniswap. Prices are incredibly unstable and exceedingly unlikely to persist.

The “Queen Elizabeth 69 Years NFT” NFT set has reportedly been produced. One image is said to represent each year of the Queen’s reign in the collection. The project’s aims should be questioned because Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, not 69.

The crypto community, typically known for its gallows humor, mainly reacted negatively to the initiatives. When told about the NFT collection, NFT aficionado ThreadGuy said, “You’re going to hell.” Trader Byzantine General declared, “We’ve got to stop this crypto stuff.”

In 1926, Queen Elizabeth was born. She was the longest-reigning British monarch in history and passed away in Balmoral Castle at 96.