As 2021 gets off to a whirlwind start in the crypto art world, more and more iconic memes from yesteryear are coming up out of the woodwork to enter the fray. Fresh off a slew of successful (and historic) meme NFT sales, Nyan Cat’s creator Chris Torres is dropping a special release today for the meme’s 10-year anniversary tomorrow.

“This is actually a very nostalgic piece that I've been holding onto for over 10 years now,” Torres told us. “Back in late March 2011, I was participating in an art doodle charity drive for earthquake disaster relief at the time, drawing all sorts of silly things and all proceeds went to The American Red Cross. During the last day of the event, I asked the chat room for suggestions on what to draw since there was some downtime. Lots of ideas came up: "cat," "space," "rainbows" and more. I decided to mix all the ideas together and drew a cat with a breakfast pastry body with rainbows excluding in all directions. Little did I know that at that moment I was creating the blueprint for what would eventually come to be Nyan Cat."

Dubbed by Torres as the “Nyan Cat Doodle,” this crypto-collectible is the original and first iteration of the beloved Nyan Cat meme, which was later turned into the famous animation that went on to become a viral sensation. Beginning at 5 p.m. EST today, the auction will run on Foundation for 24 hours at a starting price of 1 ETH.

As far as what to expect from the final outcome, Torres said he never knows what to really anticipate for these auctions, but mentioned that they can be quite stressful. Aside from the anxiety that comes alongside them, Torres added that since joining the crypto art community, the experience has been a great one and he expects this sale will be particularly important due to the origin story behind it.

“I feel there's some really cool cultural significance with the Nyan Cat Doodle, because without it we wouldn't have Nyan Cat, so I hope collectors can see the value in that,” Torres told us. “It's essentially the origin story for the iconic GIF everybody has come to know!”

Being such a special piece of internet history that coincides with the meme turning 10, we asked Torres why he decided to release it and what it means for him personally.

“It still to this day is such a surreal thought, knowing that my art has been seen and enjoyed by so many people all over the world. Memes have become very powerful ways to express yourself, and it's been awesome seeing their evolution over the years. The Nyan Cat Doodle has come to symbolize the purity of art, and how something so simple and unique can have such sway in the world. I feel like releasing this relic as an NFT is the perfect way to relay these feelings, and I hope whoever collects it knows they are holding a piece of internet history.”

Since the end of February when the original Nyan Cat GIF sold for nearly $600,000, Torres has continued releasing various Nyan Cat crypto art in addition to helping other meme creators or celebrities to mint and sell their own, such as Scumbag Steve last month.

In the near future, Torres said he won’t be stopping here, with additional collaborations and other NFTs slated to debut in the months ahead from more meme creators and other digital artists as the scene continues to grow.

“Over the past month and a half, I've collaborated with over 10 meme artists from the golden era of memes, and three awesome NFT artists that I've actually become good friends with,” Torres told us. “We've all found shared success together in a brilliant way. In addition to that, I'm working on starting a slow rollout of unique collectible Nyan Cats that I've created over the past 10 years to celebrate special holidays and seasons throughout the year. These will be calendar-based looks, so expect cool hand-drawn characters to fit the mood. These projects will keep me busy until well into next year, and I hope people enjoy what's to come!”

Anyone looking to get their hands on this crypto-collectible and piece of internet history can check out the auction on Foundation, which goes live today.