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Remember that picture of a smiling girl standing across a burning house?

Well, that picture has just been sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) for a whopping $500,000.

The image, which was named “Disaster Girl,” sold for 180 Ether cryptocurrency, at an auction held on April 17. A certain @3FMusic reportedly bought the image.

NFTs are the latest hot thing in the digital and auction world as people start looking into digital art and assets as a new form of investment.

By definition, an NFT is a digital asset stored on a digital ledger or blockchain.

This gives an object its authenticity thanks to its digital signature, making it unique, authentic, and interchangeable.

The “Disaster Girl” photo first emerged in 2005 and spread quickly online.

It was transformed into a hilarious meme, with people editing the picture and replacing the burning house in the background with various disaster events in history while retaining the original smirking girl at the front.

The girl in the photo is Zoë Roth, who was only four years old when the picture was taken by her father, Dave.

What really happened?

The story behind the photo is actually not as sinister as it looks.

Dave recalled taking his family outside to watch a fire in the neighborhood. The fire was already put under control as determined by the firefighters at the scene.

“There was no danger or stress in the situation at all,” Dave said in an interview after the photo became an online sensation.

“The kids and I walked around to see the fire from different angles. It was cool--something you don't see every day.”

Dave took several photos of his kids at the time and posted the now-famous image on the photo sharing site Zooomr.

“I guess because I knew the whole backstory, I'd overlooked the expression on Zoe's face until then,” pondered Dave.

But he understands why the photo has generated that much attention and humor.

“But someone with a blank slate has to make sense of the fire in the background and then the little girl with a creepy half-smile. It's like something out of a horror movie.”

Zoe is now 21 years old and she plans to use the money from the sale of her photo to pay off student loans and donate to charity.

She and her father are poised to continuously earn from the image as they managed to retain its copyright.

We all love memes and their ability to amuse us in a good way.

Speaking of which, the start of the enhanced community quarantine or ECQ throughout Luzon in March last year has inspired funny memes in an attempt to lighten up the situation.

Take a look back at some of these: