--- title: "Because the World Has Lost Its Mind, You Can Now Buy NFTs of Strings of Emojis" description: "Strings of Emoji As if the NFT trend wasn’t already mind-meltingly unintelligible and annoying enough. Investors are buying exclusive rights to simple strings of emojis — for some reason. The consecutive row of cartoonized images are now being referred to as “Yats” among early adopters, The Wall Street Journal reports, definitive proof that we’re nowhere […]" date: "2022-02-08" modified: "2022-02-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/strings-emojis-nfts" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" - "NFTs" tags: - "blockchain" - "nfts" - "the digest" --- # Because the World Has Lost Its Mind, You Can Now Buy NFTs of Strings of Emojis ![Investors are buying exclusive rights to simple strings of emojis called "Yats" by early adopters — for some reason we can't figure out.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ### 🧀 As if the NFT trend wasn't already mind-meltingly [unintelligible]() and [annoying]() enough. Investors are now buying up exclusive rights to simple strings of emojis, for some reason. The consecutive row of cartoonized images are now being referred to as "Yats" among early adopters, [*The Wall Street Journal* reports]() — definitive evidence that we're nowhere near hitting peak NFT yet. Or, uh, yat. "If your yat is Fire-Dragon, that says so much about someone," Yat Labs co-founder Naveen Jain told the newspaper. "Versus your username being Naveen512. That tells you my area code." In other words, strings of emojis are the latest and greatest in NFTs — if you really want to go down that road. ### 💸 Yats go for anywhere from pocket change to thousands of dollars. Jain, of course, has already gotten rich off of the trend, cashing in some $20 million from selling almost 160,000 Yats since last February, the *Journal* reports. Needless to say, high-profile celebrities are already [jumping on the trend](), including the likes of Paris Hilton and Lil Wayne. To investors, it's yet another way to establish an online identity — and, well, spend lots and lots of money. "This is all a fiction constructed in our heads, but all property is a fiction constructed in our heads," investor Michael Arrington, who invested in Yat Labs, told the *WSJ*. But not everybody is impressed by Yats. "I could say this NFT represents a string of initials, or this NFT represents my butt. It would be exactly as meaningful as turning a Yat into an NFT," David Gerard, author of the book "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain," told the newspaper. **READ MORE:** [When You Marry NFTs and Emojis, You Get a Yat]() \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on NFTs:** *[Mad Scientist Forces AI to Make Horrific Pictures Out of BuzzFeed Headlines]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()