Crypto craze meets ‘art’: bitcoins used to buy Mandela’s golden hands
Canadian cryptocurrency company Arbitrade plans a world publicity tour using the golden castings made of former South African president’s hand
It is one of the more unusual deals in the art world.
After more than a decade, a businessman in Canada has finally found a buyer for his prized collection of gold castings of former South African president Nelson Mandela’s hand. The final price? Ten million dollars – in bitcoin.
Attempts by Malcolm Duncan, formerly of South Africa, to sell the hands back in 2007 were scuppered by controversy over provenance and a possible missing charitable donation.
This time he’s had better luck, albeit with an unusual buyer.
Little information is available about Arbitrade, an Ontario-based cryptocurrency company, something chairman Len Schutzman says is about to change.
Its key selling point, he says, is that it will back all its virtual coins with some percentage of physical metal – including gold.