Setting a Kahlo drawing aflame in search of an NFT spark

First came the mariachi band, a flame-juggling dancer and the models in bathing suits and ballgowns sauntering beside the pool of a Miami mansion.

Then the spectacle began.

A businessperson who built his wealth on waves of speculation — riding the dot-com surge in the 1990s and then the rapid growth of bitcoin in recent years — popped a drawing out of its frame that he heralded as a page from Frida Kahlo’s personal diary.

Wearing a sequined blazer with the artist’s portrait on his back, he pinned the picture to a martini glass filled with blue rubbing alcohol. It was set aflame, and the artwork was reduced to ashes.