New Yorkers have been left dazzled after a cube supposedly made of pure gold appeared in the middle of Manhattan's Central Park, MailOnline reports.
The cube is the brainchild of German artist Niclas Castello, who reportedly took more than 4,500 hours to craft the precious metal piece which - if the gold is real - could be valued at a whopping $11.7 million.
But it's not just there for show. The Castello CUBE (as it is officially named) is also part of a wild publicity stunt by the artist to draw attention to his newly launched cryptocurrency 'Castello Coin.'
Reportedly made from pure, 24-carat, 999.9 fine gold, the cube has a hollow core and was manufactured in Switzerland.
Despite being just over a foot and a half in dimension, it is reported to weigh in at around 410lbs - much to the frustration of any passers-by thinking of pocketing it.
It's also surrounded by its own personal security team, who have been stationed near the Naumburg Bandshell in the south of the park and tasked with keeping an eye on the glittering box.
"Never before in the history of humanity has such an enormous amount of gold been cast into a single, pure object. Gold – the eternal metal. Symbol of the sun, of light, of the good," Castello wrote of his structure.
The cube has been teased over the last few days in Times Square, where huge screens displayed the mysterious coordinates N 40° 46′ 22″ / W 73° 58′ 17″ - which referred to The Castello CUBE's location.
Meanwhile, a private dinner for a select few celebs and members of the art world was held at Cipriani's on Wednesday to officially unveil the piece of art.
According to Artnet News, Lisa Kandlhofer - a Viennese gallerist at the launch - praised it as "a sort of communiqué between an emerging 21st-century cultural ecosystem based on crypto and the ancient world where gold reigned supreme."
However, online reactions have been less flattering, with many questioning why such a lavish piece of art is being displayed in a city overrun with poverty.
"The $11.7 million gold cube sitting in Central Park should be melted down and the proceeds should go to the poor and people without homes," tweeted one person.
"There's so much better you could do with 11 million dollars than plop a gold cube in central park and then sell nfts and crypto after putting your name in the rich people hat like, i dunno, pay for the awful infrastucture the city doesn't care enough for or something," wrote another.
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