Instagram Warns Colombian Artist For Selling NFTs of Cocaine; Threatens To Delete Artist's Account

A Colombian artist was threatened by the photo and video sharing social networking company, Instagram, to delete his account for selling NFTs of "cocaine" in their watch.

Cocaine Art on Instagram

The digital art is part of a project known as the "a ToN oF coke." The collection was made up of 1,000 collectible one-kilo cocaine packages which can be legally owned. Based on the images, the art was simply 3D white rectangles on a gray background.

According to Futurism, the biggest opposition of the Colombian artists was not the country's law enforcement or rival drug lords, but Instagram, the social media platform where he posted the NFTs.

Based on the report of the Input Mag, the Medellín-based artist Camilo Restrepo has been selling the NFTs on OpenSea since June 17.

Despite being completely legal, the art pieces sold by Restrepo have been difficult to market on social media. The sale was hard for the Colombian artist because every time the artist attempted to promote or market his drug-inspired project, he got banned from the social media platform or had his posts taken down.

When Restrepo set up his Twitter account for the project in July, he tweeted every time one of the kilos was sold, but his account was reported and suspended in just a few days after he first posted.

"I guess the algorithm doesn't get the difference between crypto cocaine and the real thing," Restrepo told Input Mag.

Despite two of his posts being taken down because of the Instagram's rule on the "sale of illegal or regulated goods," Restrepo has not fared well on his Instagram account.

Moreover, Instagram warned Restrepo that if he had a third post taken down, his account would be completely deleted. That was the reason why he stopped posting the NFTs of cocaine on the social media platform.

Digital cocaine sales were considered almost similar to that of actual illicit drug sales. Colombian banks also have blocked sales of NFTs and have even enforced greater security measures on the purchase of US dollars, which are needed to obtain certain cryptocurrencies.

However, Restrepo has found an interesting workaround in the situation. The Colombian artist transferred Ether into his customers' crypto wallets who then, in turn, transferred Colombian pesos into his bank account. When a kilo of NFT is purchased, the Ether then makes its way back to the artist.

NFTs Arrive In Cannabis

Jessie Grundy, the founder, and chief executive of 'Peakz,' a California-based company, is also selling a bag of digital marijuana.

Grundy is selling what he believes is a world-first bag of cannabis that only exists online. Grundy's company linked to blockchain technology for the "authenticity" of digital art.

Known as the "Lava Coin," the digital bag is available anywhere in the world and also legal anywhere.

Grundy shared that his customers could not smoke what they purchased, but as a bonus, if customers bought the "the first digital cannabis strain ever available," and if they were based in Oregon or California, they could also get some "real" physical marijuana because it's legal in those states, Forbes reported.

Based on his record, the highest bid was $61.02 for the NFT of Cannabis.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written By: Jess Smith

WATCH: Drug Safety Information Censored by Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter-Freethink