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- NFT of first Wikipedia edit has been sold for $750k on Christie’s this Wednesday
- The Wiki NFT on the auction house included two lots
- The NFTs lot featured the first message posted on Wikipedia by its co-founder in 2001
- Wikipedia will be using part of the sale proceeds to support Wales’ alternative social media network pilot project WT.Social
NFT craze has been continuing to surge higher. More art and historic collectors are being attracted to the industry. This year Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopedia, completed its 20th anniversary in January. Since then, the millennial website continued to make history by selling its Non-Fungible Token through auction giant Christie’s. Notably, this week itself, on Wednesday, the auction house completed an auction of two Wikipedia-related objects directly from Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. According to reports shared by new media outlets, the auction was titled “The Birth of Wikipedia”.
Wikipedia NFT auction included two lots
This week, “The Birth of Wikipedia” auction took place at Christie’s. The online sale included two lots, an NFT of Wikipedia’s first edit and a Strawberry iMac used by co-founder Wales to create Wikipedia. It was incredible to see that the first edit was sold for $750k, whereas the featured iMac used by Wales to create the Wikipedia was sold for $187,500.
Furthermore, the NFT lot featured the first message posted on Wikipedia by its co-founder in 2001. The message marked a unique moment in the history of the internet. After launching the site in January 2001, Wales typed “Hello, World!”.
NFTs preserve the history
The First Wikipedia edit NFT has undoubtedly preserved the history of our internet. Notably, the collectible crypto token preserved the layout of the Wikipedia home page in 2001. Indeed, the page was based on the earliest surviving source code. Moreover, it also has features that allow the owner to edit the page, which can be reset with a timer to revert to its original state.
According to Peter Klarnet, the senior specialist at Christie’s, the auction’s result highlighted the burgeoning interest in the history of the internet among enthusiasts. However, Wikipedia will be using part of the sale proceeds to support Wales’ alternative social media network pilot project WT.Social.
Christie’s saw notable growth with NFTs
Earlier this year, Christie’s, one of the leading auction houses, moved into the crypto-collectables ecosystem. At the time, the house announced the auction of its first-ever “purely digital work of art” by digital artist Beeple in February. Notably, the work of Beeple was sold for more than $69 million in March. The work was one of the most expensive NFL to date on Christie’s.
