'Disaster Girl' Meme's Original Photo Sells For Whopping $430,000

Disaster Girl: Zoe Roth from the 'Disaster Girl' Meme has just sold the original image of her meme as a non-fungible token (NFT) for about half a million dollars, $430,000.

The Disaster Girl's photo was originally snapped by her father in 2005 which went viral in no time. It was her sly expressions in the photo that made her a meme-favourite.

Disaster Girl finally gets some control over her meme image

Zoe Roth, then four years old, was wandering around her North Carolina neighbourhood when her father came in to take her photo. In the photo, she can be seen flashing a sly smile while some firefighters try to put out a house fire in the background.

Soon, the image went viral and has been shared millions of times in the last decade. However, the girl's family never found a way to make money from the meme until someone suggested to Roth that she could sell the original image as an NFT.

"Being able to sell it just shows us that we do have some sort of control, some sort of agency in the whole process," Roth said, speaking to the Raleigh News and Observer.

Zoe Roth also added that she and her father Dave sought the advice of some meme celebrities before deciding on hiring a manager and a lawyer to iron out the logistics.

The family then listed the "Disaster Girl" token on April 16 for a 24-hour auction. The price then reached up to 180 Ether - a cryptocurrency worth $430,000 at the time. It is now worth over $470,000.

"I'm out there probably shouting expletives into the air," Dave said. "Every time it would bump up, I just couldn't believe it," Dave Roth told the Observer.

Finally, 3FMusic won the auction and gave 180 Ether for the original image. Besides this, Zoe Roth will also get a 10% of the sale every time the "Disaster Girl" NFT is re-sold.