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August 2, 2021, a famous Pakistani meme ‘Friendship ended with Mudassir’ was purchased as an NFT for 20 Ether. The 49,866 USD (exchange rate at that time) sale took place on the Foundation platform, which hosts live auctions for NFTs.
The NFT is described as “When one friendship ends… Another begins!” and includes a short background of how and when it became popular. On September 13, 2015, Muhammad Asif Raza posted a photoshopped photo of himself shaking hands with another person with the message ‘Friendship ended with Mudassir,’ and declared Salman to be his new best buddy. In one swift leap, he had ended one acquaintance and begun another.
On Facebook, Raza’s post received over 47k responses, 56k shares, and 27k comments. Simply put, this was only the start of the tale of the ‘Friendship Ended. Raza created one of the largest friendship networks we have ever seen by accident.
So, six years later, Rana has sold an NFT of the picture he previously shared on Facebook, which has become known as “Friendship Ended with Mudassir” and he has done so on World Friendship Day. The 960 x 720 pixels NFT now belongs to @Formosa.
“For World Friendship Day (July 30), we are preparing to mint and auction a 1/1 NFT of the meme ‘Friendship Ended with Mudassir,’” according to a Samaa News article. “Due to its profound relevancy, it will be a fantastic moment to advertise and release this meme.”
NFTs have grown in popularity as a way for people to buy digital artifacts using blockchain technology. Mike Winkelmann’s (Beeple) NFT artwork was purchased for 69 Million USD in March, igniting a long argument regarding the new technology. Other popular memes have also sold recently, like the web’s famed “Overly Attached Girlfriend” meme, which was sold for 417,000 USD at an NFT auction in April.
After platform costs, the creators — Rana and his associates – will receive the majority of the auction revenue, with Alter receiving a smaller share. Following the popularity of this post, the person intends to produce other memes to sell-off in the near future, according to VICE.
“I could never have predicted that [the post] would become that popular and disseminate all across the globe. We were contacted by a plethora of press organizations. Rana told the news organization, “We have even had a cartoon made about us”. “Polish people are fascinated with it. Two or three persons approached me with promises of Polish visas. He went on to say, “They even inscribed my name on the walls there”.
Alter’s co-founder Zain Naqvi explained to SAMAA News why they chose this specific Pakistani meme for their friendship day auction. While the bulk of local memes are about small happenings, Naqvi stated that Rana’s meme appealed to a wider public and was more relevant in that setting. He informed the news outlet that this image has been utilized in political debates spanning three American presidents, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
While most people would assume that Mudassir’s public dismissal by Rana would terminate their friendship, the truth appears to be very different. Rana’s most recent Livestream on Facebook following the sale included his “former best buddy,” as he tagged both of them. “We’re all together, and we interact at times,” he explained.
