Uniswap Ad Just Sold for $525,000 as an NFT—Here’s Why

Pplpleasr, a visual artist, is making headlines with promo videos that use rich metaphors to illustrate decentralized finance protocols. Her most recent video , in which the new algorithm from decentralized exchange Uniswap brings an arid desert to life, recently sold for $525k (310 ETH) as an NFT.

In brief

Digital artist pplpleasr sold an animated Uniswap ad for $525k as an NFT.
The NFT was bought by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), formed by her fans.
The proceeds are set to go to charities championing minority representation.

The Uniswap unicorn—the dApp’s mascot—roams a rugged plateau in the video’s opening scenes, feeling glum and cursing it, its mystical abilities completely exhausted.

Uniswap’s newly-updated algorithm, which will fuel the next iteration of its decentralized trade, suddenly sprouts from the rocks and bolts forward, leaving a dense canopy of trees and lights in its wake.
The unicorn, now striding and ablaze with the algorithm’s mystical crypto switching energy, then follows the algorithm to an oasis that reflects Ethereum—perhaps the spring of everlasting life?

It’s succinct and to-the-point—and, more importantly, it could entice people into the insanely complex world of decentralized finance, where could protocol is its own puzzle box.
The Uniswap ad (which, note, supports an algorithm) has received 650,000 views on Twitter since it went live on Monday.
Pplpleasr self-describes as a “high-quality meme generator.” Other DeFi ventures, such as Pickle Finance, Harvest Finance, Yearn Finance, and SushiSwap, have received similar treatment and have been widely shared on Twitter and Telegram.

pplpleasr draws on her experience as a graphic artist, having worked on films like Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as modeling in-game cinematics for Blizzard’s Diablo IV.

The ETH earned from the sale would be donated to organizations that promote minority representation, as a result of the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16 and the #StandWithAsians protest that followed.

PleasrDAO, a loosely affiliated collective, won the auction with a decentralized independent group called PleasrDAO as the bidder. The DAO (short for decentralized autonomous organization) is made up of superfans who admire her ability to make high-quality animations for DeFi protocols that are much more appealing than big-budget commercials for financial goods from Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan.
PleasrDAO is made up of 23 Ethereum addresses that pooled funds to make the winning bid.

It was founded by Leighton Cusack, who also happens to be the co-founder of the DeFi company PoolTogether. Cusack told Decrypt that he founded the DAO because he couldn’t afford the piece on his own and decided to purchase “this piece of history.”
Who is Pplpleasr?

Pplpleasr is a Taiwanese visual artist in her twenties. When a work offer from Apple fell through due to a botched visa application, she turned to NFTs in the fall. She told Decrypt that the bureaucratic blunder turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “DeFi offered me a spot to call home.”

According to Decrypt, she saw a “lack of artistic talent around promotional or marketing material inside the DeFi room.” “I just saw it as a way to make money—I didn’t mean for it to become my full-time career, but it has!”
Her NFT auction, she says, would encourage other women and people of color to make digital art. She claims there are so many white males at the top of the chart. “It took a lot of confidence to take the leap of faith, and I’m just grateful that it worked out so well.”

“It’s a good example of crypto being used for good”, Svanevik told Decrypt. “If she hadn’t done this, then that half a million dollars would not have been donated.”