‘Side-eyeing Chloe’ family to sell meme as NFT, say it could ‘put her through college’

The bid for the original photo starts at 5 Ethereum, which is worth roughly £11,000

‘Side Eyeing Chloe’ and her mother are selling the original photo behind the viral sensation through NFT (Foundation.App/Side Eyeing Chloe)

A young girl, who side-eyed her mother and became the viral meme sensation known as “side-eyeing Chloe,” is now selling the original photo behind the meme for thousands of dollars.

Chloe Clem, who is now 10 years old, was just two when her mother caught a concerned reaction from her as she filmed her daughters while telling them they earned a surprise trip to Disneyland.

The nearly three-minute video, which mother Katie Clem uploaded on YouTube in 2013 has been viewed millions of times. However, Chloe’s buck-toothed side-eye to her mother had gone viral and has gone on to become one of the internet’s most widely used memes.

Now, the original image from the video that sparked the meme, is being sold as a non-fungible token (NFT).

Chloe and Ms Clem have decided to raise money by selling the original image as an NFT, with a bid starting at 5 Ethereum, a form of cryptocurrency that is worth roughly $15,000 (£11,000), according to BBC.

An NFT is a unique digital asset that provides proof of ownership and can be bought and sold like cryptocurrency. It has emerged as a way of earning money by selling digital artwork, music or any virtual content perceived to have value.

At the same time, NFTs also provide sellers with copyrights over their content.

Ms Clem, in an interview with the BBC, said the decision to raise money using the NFT route was a “no brainer” when she discovered the option.

“It’s a cool opportunity, especially if there’s a Chloe fan out there who loves this meme they’ll be able to own it. Even Chloe has said ‘that’s pretty cool’ - it’s a typical 10-year-old thing to say,” said Ms Clem.

Her 10-year-old daughter already has a massive following of those who know the person and the story behind the viral meme. Chloe has over 500,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts regular updates.

Ms Clem said the original video she uploaded has been watched over 20 million times and even after eight years, she still receives memes with Chloe’s face on it.

“I opened up Tumblr and there were just pages and pages of Chloe’s face,” Ms Clem said. “It was very weird, very overwhelming. I had my family, friends sending me these memes - till this day they still send me the memes of Chloe they see on the internet.”

Ms Clem said Chloe wanted to buy a horse with the money they would raise, but she would instead use it to help pay for her education. “Chloe is like, ‘I’d like to buy a horse, I’d like to build a Walt Disney World,’ but I’d just like to put her through college,” she said.

“Side-eyeing Chloe” is not the first internet sensation raising money from a viral meme using NFTs.

Earlier, the woman who went viral after smiling in front of a burning house, sold the original image from the meme as an NFT. Zoe Roth, who came to be known as “Disaster Girl” after she went viral, raised $500,000 (£366,247) through the NFT.