At least two sets of lifetime passes to the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival sold for more than a quarter of a million dollars in the festival’s NFT auction, which closed Friday, Feb. 11.

The long-running music festival, which happens at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, first announced a venture into the NFT market on via its social media accounts on Feb. 1. NFTs stand for a non-fungible token, a digital one-of-a-kind token that can be bought and sold. It can take shape in the forms of images, songs or GIFs. Coachella’s NFT collections included items such as photos that could be redeemed for physical prints and a collectible poster series.

However, the most notable of the festival’s initial NFT offerings was the Coachella Keys Collection. The 10 individual and unique NFTs include lifetime super VIP passes to Coachella for one weekend in April every year as well as varying amenities such as luxury camping, gourmet meals and more. Bidding for the lifetime passes began Friday, Feb. 4 and closed Friday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. For every bid after 5 p.m. the auction was extended by 10 minutes.

The Infinity Key, which features lifetime Coachella Guest Passes, all-inclusive culinary experiences and private transportation, was sold at $270,000. The Key to the Safari sold at $256,000 and comes with a luxury, air-conditioned tent for accommodations.

In a phone interview, Reid Robinson, co-founder and CEO of cocoNFT, said that while it’s still early in the NFT world, showing buyers that their NFTs can be utilized in the real world can help boost engagement for everyone involved.

“As technology becomes easier to use, more creators think of different ways to innovate ideas like offering access to Coachella,” Robinson said. “It starts to get interesting with people who have never bought NFTs and are buying some for Coachella.”

When the collection first went on sale, some keys had bids as low as $4,000, but a spot check at 11:05 a.m. on Feb. 4 showed all keys had already reached a minimum of $25,000.

Coachella also offered two other NFT collections on Feb. 4, which included the Desert Reflections Collection and the Sights and Sounds Collection, both of which sold out later that day

The Desert Reflections Collection was limited to 1,000 and consisted of 10 digital versions of festival posters across Coachella’s history from the artist Emek. It can also be redeemed for the photo book “Coachella | The Photographs: 1999-2019.”

These sold out within minutes  and, at one point, were asking for millions on the resale market.

The initial price for the Desert Reflections Collection went for $180 and sold out within three minutes. Resell prices for this collection at Coachella’s NFT marketplace ranged from $105-$30,000, according to a price check at 11 a.m. Feb. 11.

The Sights and Sounds Collection was limited to 10,000 and included a random selection of one of 10 festival photos and soundscapes from the Empire Polo Club. It can also be redeemed for a physical art print of the photo.

The initial cost for the Sights and Sounds Collection started at $60 but resell prices at Coachella’s NFT marketplace range from $50-$975 according to a spot check at 11:15 a.m. Feb. 11.

In an emailed statement last week, Sam Schoonover, Coachella’s Innovative Lead, said that the NFT incorporation was successful. He said the festival plans to use more NFTs in the next couple of years.

“One year ago, NFTs were just starting to take off,” Schoonover said. “Can you imagine where we might find ourselves two years from now?”

On Feb. 3, the Coachella Twitter account  hosted a Space with FXT.US where it announced that the festival will give every attendee an NFT with on-site activation.

The festival, which will feature headliners Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Ye (formerly Kanye West), will happen at the Empire Polo Club in Indio April 15-17 and April 22-24. It’s unclear if Ye will stay on the bill given his threat to drop if Eilish doesn’t apologize for an alleged disrespectful comment against Travis Scott.

For more information on the Coachella NFTs, visit  nft.coachella.com or tune into Coachella’s Discord server.

This story is developing. Check back for more information.

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