Valuable virtual art piece accidentally sells for $3,000 instead of $300,000 in online blunder

A HIGHLY coveted Bored Ape non-fungible token (NFT) has accidentally sold for one-hundredth of its asking market price.

The owner of Bored Ape #3,547 made a terrible typing error when he listed the NFT for $3,000 instead of $300,000.

The NFT is one of 10,000 limited editions, which usually sell for $200,000 apiece, to come from the Bored Ape Yacht Club fleet of digital artwork.

Just seconds after going on sale, the NFT was snatched up by an automated account that instantly put it back up for sale for nearly $250,000.

The seller, who goes by the handle of maxnaut, told CNet he had meant to list the NFT for sale at 75 ethereum (ETH) -- the preferred crypto-currency for making NFT transactions.

But as he had made many online trades that day, he suffered from a "lapse of concentration" which caused him to type in "0.75 ETH."

"I instantly saw the error as my finger clicked the mouse but… it was instantly sniped before I could click 'Cancel' - and just like that, $250,000 was gone," he said.

The buyer of the NFT, who is suspected to be a bot, paid a high "gas" fee worth 8 ethereum (or about $32,000) to make sure the sale went through instantaneously.

These types of listing errors are usually pretty easy to reverse in traditional banking transactions.

However, in the crypto-trading markets, which are unregulated and usually anonymous, it is nearly impossible to address such mistakes.

The Bored Apes artworks were released in April 2021 and are "programmatically generated," meaning a computer has randomly generated each pieces' look, color, and design.

In other news, smartphone experts are warning anyone thinking of buying an iPhone for Christmas to think again.

WhatsApp is adding a cryptocurrency feature for some users in the US.

And, we revealed an iPhone document scanning trick you need to try.