Cryptoverse: Trading names in a mind-boggling crypto craze

FILE PHOTO: A non-fungible token (NFT) displayed on the website of NFT marketplace OpenSea is seen through a magnifying glass, in this illustration picture taken February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration

(Reuters) - A new NFT trading craze where names are bought and sold for eye-popping sums is providing a multi-million-dollar lifeline for speculators shivering in the bleak crypto winter.

"Domain" names such as coin.crypto (which has sold for $100,000) and beer.eth (which fetched $39,000) are a new breed of NFTs that owners can use to replace the jumble of 16 random numbers and letters that form their digital wallet addresses.