Crypto project marks passing of monarch with a Skeleton Queen NFT

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An NFT project called QueenE has minted one final portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate her passing, but in a controversial move they have depicted the late monarch as a skeleton.

It was initially reported that QueenE minted their last NFT yesterday, a pixel portrait of the queen in front of the Welsh flag. However, just hours after the queen of England passed away, they released a skeletal portrait of Liz to be auctioned.

QueenE has been creating daily portraits of the queen in varying frames and backgrounds since July, minting them on OpenSea.

The controversial skeleton queen. So far the NFT project has made 12.8 ETH ($21,885).

Read more: BAYC sells just 16 NFTs in a week as OpenSea dries up

The queen NFT auction reads: “When we created this project, we always wanted to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s life and longevity.”

“We really hoped She would Live much longer. We really hoped we could keep celebrating and honoring Her Existence… May we keep on building a community strong and lasting like you built your Reign.”

The highest bidder is currently offering 0.2 ETH ($345), with 17 hours left. 

According to QueenE, this money is for “[Queen DAO] participants to allocate resources for the long-term growth and prosperity of the QueenE project.”

One allocation was spent on a promotional trip to Brazil for the DAO’s founders as an “opportunity to bond with the best in Brazilian community” at a blockchain festival in Rio.

Skeleton Queen NFT not alone

User response to the skeletal queen NFT wasn’t overly positive. “Holy shit,” “Brutal,” and “Isn’t this controversial?” were just some of the replies.

However, the Queen’s passing hasn’t stopped other NFT projects from cashing in. Over 40 meme coins have been created in the past 24 hours to mark the occasion, including Queen Doge and Queen Elizabeth Inu. Another created yesterday features 520 queen themed NFTs.

Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, reigning for a record 70 years and 214 days.

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